We are proud to bring you more health and wellness information through some of the vendors we have worked with over the years in the form of this wellness guide. We hope you find the information herein useful, on your journey to improving your well being.
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I was a very active young girl studying ballet many days a week, active in school and with friends and family. Yet even while being so active I always struggled in my teen years with feeling tired.
My symptoms: cold hands and feet to the point of turning white or even blue sometimes. This got increasingly worse with time where even in the frozen food aisle of the grocery store my fingers, toes and feet would go numb.
My diagnosis was Reynard’s Disease, which accounted for the cold numbing issues with my hands / feet and nothing could be done except it was recommended that I move out of my cold state in Michigan and bring gloves to go grocery shopping.
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This Kristi and Kids™ Wellness Manual is set up to take you through the journey of research, testing and treatment that I spent years learning. We’ve tried to keep it as succinct as possible so that you are able to get the specifics of various areas we focused on to bring about our increase in health.
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Food provides the nutrients that fuels every bodily function. During my research, I discovered that if a bodily function wasn’t working properly that it could be due to a lack of nutrients to support that function. Then I asked myself if proper nutrition was the key to wellness, why modern medicine hasn’t come up with the perfect vitamin that supports all body functions. My research determined every “body’s” needs must be different. Again, I asked myself why?
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Ever wonder what the difference is with pharmacies? Well, if you’re like me, you thought a pharmacy was a pharmacy. However, this is simply not true. That’s like saying an ice cream store is an ice cream store. But would you say Dairy Queen® is the same as Cold Stone®? Absolutely not! And which would you rather have? Cold Stone® of course!
They make their ice cream fresh and homemade then specialize specifically to your needs and desires. Much the same is true about a compounding pharmacy. Of course, much more healthy than ice cream! But I had to divert from all the health and wellness talking I do and confess, yes I’ve had both Dairy Queen® and Cold Stone® just so I could make this comparison point here!
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You may wonder why I’ve decided to dedicate an entire section on Gluten Free eating. As we already spoke about the importance of testing for food intolerances and how important to also test for gluten intolerance. Celiac disease affects 1 in 133 Americans. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease that primarily affects the small intestine. Usually the small intestine is lined with small finger like projections called villi. These villi help digest and absorb the food we eat. In people with celiac disease the gluten triggers an autoimmune reaction that destroys the villi and results in malabsorption.
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It’s been said that stress is America’s number one health problem. Name one person who doesn’t deal with some kind of stress in their life? It is estimated that 75 – 90 % of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress related problems. Job stress is another huge issue. Occupational pressures and fears are far and away the leading source of stress for American adults and these have steadily increased over the past few decades.
Now add job related stress to health issue stressors like autism, autoimmune diseases, celiac disease, heart disease, cancer, etc. and in a single person’s life they are so bombarded by stress avenues that simply saying, “you need to reduce the stress in your life”, won’t work. I know because I’ve personally been there. As an only parent of five children and sole provider you can imagine that I have dealt with the stressors that you just can’t get rid of. Like providing food and shelter for your family in a down economy. So what is one to do? Of course there are behavioral changes one must make to create as solid of a foundation as possible to stress free living.
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Here are just a few facts to substantiate the importance of looking at hormones seriously. There are 76.9 million Americans. Eleven thousand of them are turning 50 years old per day. By the year 2020 forty percent of US population will be greater than sixty years old! So, since hormones naturally begin to decline in most people in their forties coupled with these statistics, doesn’t it make sense to consider the importance of knowing our hormone balances?
I mean, would you ignore checking your bank account balance? Would you wait until you have a ton of issues going on and so one day you finally say, maybe I should see if there is enough money in this account since I’m bouncing checks daily? If we care as much about keeping tabs on our bank accounts shouldn’t we also keep tabs on our bodies through simple tests of our hormones which could silently be decreasing and causing us slow but sure issues that could easily be taken care of? Repairing your hormone levels is likely going to be much easier these days than bringing your bank account back to its previous state with our economy!
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Supplementation is a key element to most every wellness program. Whether you are working to lose weight or treating a severe disease, just about every person is in need of some type of supplementation. Between our diets and the stress most adults live with there is little we can do to avoid the need for supplementing what our body is lacking. A key ingredient to knowing what you should or should not be taking is through testing.
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When considering embarking upon testing, what is the most important component that comes to mind? Quality! You want to know that the time, money and perhaps poke you are enduring will render quality results you can count on. I found that when treating issues like autism or lupus it is impeccable that labs be familiar with the type of testing you need to obtain the best results. A lab must be able to exceed traditional means of quality control to be one we would want to use. Why? Because the test result is the starting point on your road map to recovery.
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Overall health can relate to both our mental and physical. As we focus first on our physical health we must recognize that much of what we have gone over throughout this manual has to do with improving our health from disease or disorder. We’ve also touched on the fact that you may not have a serious health issue but just want to improve your ideal weight, your energy level or your wellness in general. With either of these focuses there are a few key elements which are critical to maximizing everything else you are doing.