Dr. Mark and Dr. Chip's Healthy Blogs

  Hello Natural Health Family. I imagine everyone is getting all ready for some celebrations. It’s that time of the year where we have more excuses to have more gatherings, have more fun, and appreciate the time we have together. Christmas, along with other holidays, are a way to bring back the spirit of living life more fully. The Christmas spirit can remind us of our fun nature to let go more and embrace what is now.  I’m sure that when it comes to Christmas and that of other holidays everyone sees it differently. Perhaps it reminds us of many great memories that we have had in the past, reminds us of those loved ones that are no longer with us, or a chance for a new opportunity to reconnect with family and friends. Whatever it may be, we have the ability to choose what Christmas means to us. Although it may be chaotic, it may seem like we have to do all these activities, or buy all the presents, we can always choose to see it differently. We can decide to embrace all the seemingly c

  Hello Everyone in Natural Health Nation-                 A little colder this weekend so we can start getting used to the cold weather as we head into actual winter on the calendar. We thankfully missed a lot of the snow that fell up north and I hope they keep it up there. It looks like the end of the week and Christmas will be a little cold but I’m sure we will survive. Don’t forget that we have many products that we use to help increase immunity in our patients and especially with some of the unfortunate eating habits that come with the holidays. Having a dessert once in a while is okay but we need to learn to not let it become a habit and that we can offset this tradition with good nutrition to keep the immune system functioning correctly.                 In our health shop this week, were talking about handling Holiday Stressors, and it should be some good information. We’re not talking only about bad stressors but even the good stressors or too much of a good thing. It would

  STORY AT-A-GLANCE Omega-6 linoleic acid (LA) is the most common fat in the American diet. Most people get 25 times more LA than they need. At most, you need about 2 grams a day, but the average American gets about 50 grams a day, thanks to the fact that most processed foods and condiments are loaded with omega-6 seed oils LA gets incorporated into your cell membranes where it causes inflammation. Its half-life is nearly two years, so ridding your body of stored LA completely can take up to seven years Eliminating LA is a marathon, not a sprint. Ineffective and potentially harmful ways of eliminating LA include extended fasting and overtaxing your body with strenuous endurance exercise To stop the accumulation of LA in your cells, eliminate seed oils from your diet. Cook with beef tallow, butter, ghee or coconut oil, and avoid all processed foods, restaurant foods, condiments, and animals raised on grains, such as chicken and pork Vitamin E, in a dose of about 2 IU - 3 IU for every gr

  Good morning Natural Health! Or afternoon or evening! I hope everyone had a good weekend. The winter season is upon us. This means a time of many different activities, festivities, and occurrences. Many think that this is a time when sickness becomes more apparent around us. However, many times, people go through the winter not having any issues. So what is it that helps us to stay healthy throughout the season? First off, I would like to point out that when we do get sick that it’s not a good or bad thing. There are different ways to see sickness. A way that may be less common is that when it appears that people get sick, it really means that the body is needing to clear, cleanse, or release something. This way of thinking about it gives us the understanding that our body is very intelligent and does what it needs to so that it can get back to harmony. When our bodies are very healthy we see that it adapts to the environment very well and we maintain our healthy state throughout t

  Hello Everyone in Natural Health Nation-                 Well, our weather is holding on and thankfully we haven’t had a lot of snow and other bad weather conditions. It’s great that were able to get outside still and finish up some of our fall activities and chores to get ready for winter. I know that people are getting antsy hoping for some snow for Christmas, but don’t worry, we’ll get our fair share here in the Midwest. Also noticing a lot of people with coughs and colds, probably a side effect of Thanksgiving, but just know that we have great nutritional supplements here to feed the body what it needs to strengthen the immune system and get over those sicknesses.                 This month in our health shops, were talking about sugar and what goes on with it. This week were talking about the hidden dangers of sugar and why people should avoid it. I know that were coming into the holiday season and everybody likes to make their cookies and candies and all that business, but

  ccording to recent research, eating 2.25 cups of grape powder per day for two weeks, equal to 60 grapes a day, can help protect your skin against sunburn. After two weeks, one-third of study participants showed increased resistance to UV-induced skin erythema (reddening of the skin) Grape skins are rich in polyphenols, which are one of the primary components responsible for improving the resilience of your skin against UV damage Other polyphenol-rich foods include herbs like cloves, Mexican oregano, rosemary, spearmint and peppermint, elderberry, black olives, dark chocolate and cocoa powder Another powerful skin protector is astaxanthin, a carotenoid antioxidant derived from Haematococcus microalgae. Research has shown 16 weeks of astaxanthin supplementation can improve wrinkles, skin moisture and elasticity. Astaxanthin-rich foods include wild-caught Alaskan salmon, trout, krill (or krill oil), shrimp and crayfish Omega-3 fat is also important for skin health, while high omega-6 li