Dr. Mark and Dr. Chip's Healthy Blogs

  Hi Everyone at Natural Health! I would like to keep this message short. As we head into the week after the holiday Memorial Day celebration it is up to us to make the most of what we have in our lives. We remember those who served and passed because we are able to live our lives now.  This holiday weekend reminds us of the hardships that many faced in the past. Although tragic and saddening, the battles were fought for us to live and enjoy what we have now. When we think of relative terms we can see that some of the many things that we take for granted now we still may get stressed out about later. What our brothers and sisters had to go through in the past helps us realize that life can be a gift if we choose to see it that way. Of course there are times where we get caught up in the mundane or the small peculiarities which cause further issues. Nonetheless, it is our ability to see the bigger picture and let go of small or insignificant problems knowing that life tends t...

  Hello Everyone in Natural Health Nation-                 I hope that you enjoyed your weekend, whatever you were doing. The weather was beautiful and it was a good time to get outside and things done. Memorial Day sort of signals the beginning of summer activities and hopefully the weather stays like it is now, less humid and not as hot as it can be around here. I’ve been reminding patients to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water and good fluids and not forgetting about the electrolytes, which is a fancy word for salt. I’m talking about sea salt and mineral salt here, not the junk white salt that’s in all the restaurants and all the snack foods in the world. Staying hydrated with fluids and electrolytes helps you feel good, having plenty of energy over the summer, and being able to enjoy the outdoors in the heat. A good indicator of dehydration is that you just don’t feel well in the heat and need t...

STORY AT-A-GLANCE Symptoms of an uncommon type of heart attack known as spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) are easily overlooked, as few SCAD patients have any history of or risk factors for heart disease SCAD is a leading cause of heart attacks in healthy women under 55; the average age of SCAD patients is 42. Eighty percent of SCAD patients are women; 20% have recently given birth SCAD occurs when the layers of your blood vessel wall tear apart from each other, trapping blood between the layers. As the blood collects between the layers, your blood vessel gets choked off, triggering a heart attack Most SCAD patients are healthy. Risk factors for the condition include underlying blood vessel conditions such as fibromuscular dysplasia, extreme exercise and severe emotional stress Common signs and symptoms of a SCAD-induced heart attack, and current treatment recommendations are included Editor's Note: This article is a reprint. It was originally published March 8, 2018. T...

  Natural Health Family! I hope everyone had a great weekend and was able to accomplish whatever it was you wanted to do, or maybe just took a rest. Over the weekend I was able to do some new things and it had me thinking about how we feel about trying something new. Everyone may have different tastes of what they like and dislike, which obviously is great and helps with the variety of life. Sometimes we can get caught up in doing the same things over and over but when we decide to do something new it can break that cycle or at the least switch it up.  Why is trying something new sometimes an unsettling or uncomfortable process? Do you remember when you were younger and when you tried something new it was an exciting process, like going on a field trip to a place you have never been before. When we are younger we are like sponges learning all that we can, exploring new territory, and want to see what we like and dislike. Our brains at that stage are growing at an incredible ...

  Welcome back Natural Health Family! Hope you all had a great weekend and played in the rain or enjoyed watching it from inside. I found myself playing a whiffle ball tournament over the weekend for a great charity event. I also found out that I could have warmed up a bit better, to say I was a little sore the next day would be an understatement haha. However, I remembered that although it is always fun to play with great people a great question to ask is why I played at all?  Have you ever done something new before because you wanted to have a new experience just for the fun of it? Or maybe you practiced a certain task because you knew eventually you could be better and enjoy even more later on. Many of the greatest athletes we know didn’t play the game to gain more fame, riches, etc. They played the game because they fell in love with it. Their why to play became more of allowing the process to unfold rather than to get to the next level. They started to realize that the...

 Hello Everyone In Natural Health Nation-                 I hope that you were able to enjoy the nice weekend. It was a lot of different kind of weather, we had hot and cool and some wind and rain so something for everyone. As it’s warmed up and we’ve gotten some rain, I’ve noticed that the tree leaves are almost grown out. It’s so nice to see everything green and growing but sometimes hard to keep up with the grass mowing. Many people are noticing all the pollen around and the unstable weather seems to add to the allergy symptoms. We have many great nutritional strategies to help with allergy symptoms and keep people healthy. We even have some strategies for helping with the bug bites that people get this time of year. At Natural Health, we are here to help with almost any condition and just help the body to be healthy with whatever it needs.           ...

  STORY AT-A-GLANCE Polyphenols found in cranberries may help reduce the risk of developing urinary tract infections (UTIs) and reduce the risk of symptomatic, culture-verified UTIs in women with recurrent UTIs Cranberry products had little to no benefit in elderly men and women in residential facilities, in pregnant women or adults with incomplete bladder emptying Data have conclusively demonstrated that a majority of the rising number of UTIs are caused by exposure to contaminated chicken. A close genetic match has been found between drug-resistant E. coli in humans and bacteria found in poultry Cranberries are rich in iodine, and a diet high in flavonoids, also found in cranberries, can lower the risk of heart disease, cancer and all-cause mortality, and have a sustained benefit on the cardiovascular system of healthy individuals Several preventive practices can reduce the risk of a UTI, including staying well-hydrated, taking showers instead of baths, urinating when you feel th...

Hello Natural Health Family! For a Midwest spring it sure got hot. It sometimes can feel like many things are heating up. You could notice the weather changes, turn the tv and watch the news, or see what is all going on in the world as of today. Life will always have its rhythms and it’s up to us to navigate them respectfully.  Have you ever heard of the story about the Chinese farmer? It is a short story. If not you can do a quick internet search and watch a film or hear an audio about it. However, I thought it was relevant to the topic today. The story explains all of the different types of things that happen to a Chinese farmer and his family back in a time of war and scarcity. It depicts what appears to be good happenings and bad happenings. Nonetheless, the Chinese farmer is not swayed. He actually takes the stand point that although what appears to be good or what appears to be bad he sees as neutral as just another happening. Now I am not saying this is right or wrong but ...

  Hello Everyone in Natural Health Nation-                 What a beautiful weekend! We had some very nice temperatures and even got a little rain in there, which will help keep the grass green and growing. This is a great time of year as everything is green and growing and the trees look so nice. By my house is a field of grass and it looks so nice and green now. As we get into middle and late summer, it dries out and turns brown so it’s so nice to enjoy the green grass blowing in the wind. There is a lot of pollen out there and before the rain, lots of dust. We have lots of great products here at Natural Health to help the body eliminate pollen and dust and stop allergy symptoms.                 In our Health Shop and Patient education workshop, we will be talking about women’s health issues, which basically pertains to everyone...