Dr. Mark and Dr. Chip's Healthy Blogs

Why is the Nutritional Testing We Do    So Important?             The answer to this is simple. People spend millions of dollars per year on vitamins, oils, super foods, super drinks, etc. and yet our health in this country is getting worse. This is because these people, who are trying to help their health, are listening to marketing and advertising information rather than knowing exactly what nutrition they need and how they need it. There is a lot to know in the nutrition field on the right kinds of nutrition so that it nourishes the body and helps the body to heal, and being able to get the patient’s body to a state where it will absorb the nutrition and utilize it correctly.             In doing our Nutrition Response Testing technique, we are able to learn from the body what state it is in. We can then determine what steps are needed to get the body workin...

Omega-3 Index More Predictive Than Cholesterol Levels Analysis by  Dr. Joseph Mercola STORY AT-A-GLANCE Your omega-3 index has a greater impact on risk of heart disease than does your cholesterol level Plant-based omega-3 ALA is converted in restricted amounts to EPA and DHA, but not in large enough amounts to support your brain and heart health EPA and DHA improve blood pressure, reduce inflammation and help slow the progression of Alzheimer's The best sources of EPA and DHA are fatty fish such as herring, anchovies and wild-caught Alaskan salmon, as well as grass fed beef and dairy that have a nearly 1-to-1 ratio of omega-3 to 6 The ketogenic diet is beneficial for many people as it helps with weight control and management and offers protection against a number of health ailments. Approached incorrectly, however, it can actually be harmful. In this short video Dr. Eric Berg warns, "The last thing you want to do is get the benefits of the ketogenic diet ...

Why is the Nutritional Testing We Do    So Important?             The answer to this is simple. People spend millions of dollars per year on vitamins, oils, super foods, super drinks, etc. and yet our health in this country is getting worse. This is because these people, who are trying to help their health, are listening to marketing and advertising information rather than knowing exactly what nutrition they need and how they need it. There is a lot to know in the nutrition field on the right kinds of nutrition so that it nourishes the body and helps the body to heal, and being able to get the patient’s body to a state where it will absorb the nutrition and utilize it correctly.             In doing our Nutrition Response Testing technique, we are able to learn from the body what state it is in. We can then determine what steps are needed to get the body workin...

Natural Health is a “Safe Haven” for Health Truth             What we mean by “safe haven” is that our patients and our patient’s families are welcome to ask us about any question related to health and we will find the true answer for them. Many folks are hesitant to talk about health issues with their usual MD because they know of the blowback they will get when discussing natural health issues. Mainstream medicine has its own philosophy on treating patients and much of their information comes from research done by drug companies and drug salesman that, of course, are biased and perhaps not in your best interest. We understand the need for these companies to make money but we don’t agree with the misinformation that causes patients harm to their health and possibly fatal consequences.             At Natural Health, we are interested in giving our patients truthful infor...

Medical Opposites             There is an interesting trend that I have noticed from our many years of clinical practice which I call medical opposites. What I mean by this term is that the mainstream medical advice we hear seems to be the opposite of what the human body actually needs nutritionally or diet wise. There are many of these and I will try to explain them as sensibly as possible. Let’s start with a simple one.             For decades now, the mainstream medical wisdom has told us not to eat salt because it supposedly causes high blood pressure. I would agree that the use, or overuse, of refined salt can cause problems. Our bodies need sea salt or mineral salt to work correctly and that distinction is never made. Sea salt is necessary for our kidneys to work correctly, for good adrenal function to handle stress, for lymphatic fluid drainage and cerebral spinal...

What Causes High Blood Pressure?             There are many causes of high blood pressure. In the natural health world, we find this is very particular for the individual patient. Most of these problems come from bad diets that lend towards nutritional deficiencies, over eating refined carbohydrates which causes inflammation in the body-especially in the cardio vascular system, lifestyles that include high amounts of stress and anxiety, and even overuse of over-the-counter medications. Some sources will talk about genetics being a factor but we look at the science of epigenetics’ as a cause, again diet and lifestyle turning on certain genes.             The important factor to remember when treating high blood pressure is to get to the cause, not just treat it with a medication. Medications are great for short-term prevention of further problems like stroke, but do nothi...

Vegetables are low in calories but rich in vitamins, minerals and other important nutrients. In addition, many are low in carbs and high in fiber, making them ideal for low-carb eating. Whether you're on a low-carb eating or not, eating more vegetables is always a great idea. Here is a list of the  10 best low-carb vegetables to include in your eating plan. 1. Bell peppers  are anti-inflammatory and high in vitamins A and C. They contain 6 grams of digestible (net) carbs per serving. 2. Broccoli  contains 4 grams of digestible carbs per serving. It's high in vitamins C and K and may reduce insulin resistance and help prevent cancer. 3. Asparagus  contains 4 grams of digestible carbs per serving. It's a good source of several vitamins and may help protect against certain types of cancer. 4. Mushrooms  contain 1 gram of digestible carbs per serving. They can reduce inflammation in people with metabolic syndrome. 5. Zucchini  and other types of summer squas...

With the holiday coming up and people traveling to different events, I thought this might help Healthy Tips for Eating Out 1.      Probably the most important thing is to just choose food items that are mostly protein and/or vegetables. Most restaurants and servers will allow you to pick and choose certain items or sides with your entrée but realize there may be an up charge. 2.      You don’t have to take the bread. Many restaurants bring bread before the meal and you can ask them to not do that. Yes it taste good but you don’t need the cards. 3.      Stay away from the deep-fried items as the oil that they used to fry the food is probably hydrogenated and then reused many times. This would include french fries and many of the fried appetizers. 4.      Always have a salad. Most of the better restaurants have a salad with the entrée or have good salad choices as the entrée. This is a great ...

What is normal Blood Pressure?             For all the years of my professional career, the normal blood pressure number that we’ve known about is 120/80. To be clear, this number was meant to be the average of the population. This means that some people’s normal blood pressure could be 150/90, and some people’s normal blood pressure could be 100/60. The thing to remember about blood pressure is that it is meant to be taken in a resting state. This means that you can’t rush into your doctor’s office after waiting for 2 hours in the waiting room, and being upset, have your blood pressure taken and it’s higher than 120/80, and then being told you have high blood pressure. A person needs to be in a resting position for at least 10 minutes without any stimulating stressors on the body, like coffee or caffeinated drinks or watching the news, and then have the blood pressure taken in both arms and see what the number is. Then do the...

How to lower Cholesterol?             To learn how to lower your cholesterol, we first must have a discussion about what cholesterol is and does. Cholesterol is in all the cell membranes in your body, your brain is 60 to 80% cholesterol by weight, but in your bloodstream it is a transfer molecule moving triglycerides from the liver to the fat cells for storage, or from the fat cells to the liver to be used for energy production. Only about 5% of the cholesterol that gets into your body comes from the diet, the rest is all made by the liver for the purposes mentioned above. The problem with cholesterol comes when the body uses it to repair the damage in the arteries that comes from the use of refined sugar. The increased sugar consumption causes insulin spikes and the resulting inflammation deteriorates the lining of the arteries. With more inflammation, the body uses more cholesterol to patch it up and this causes the plaque, ...

7 Things You Need To Know if Your Doctor Says Your Cholesterol Is Too High (Before Taking Meds!) When I first opened my medical practice in the mid-80s,  cholesterol , and the fear of having too high a level was rarely discussed unless your cholesterol level was over 330 or so. Over the years, however, cholesterol became a household word for something you must keep as low as possible, or suffer the consequences. Today,  dietary fat and cholesterol are typically still portrayed as the worst foods you can consume. This is unfortunate, as these myths are actually harming your health. 1  Cholesterol is one of the most important molecules in your body; indispensable for the building of cells and for producing stress and sex hormones, as well as vitamin D. Since the cholesterol hypothesis is false, this also means that the recommended therapies—low-fat, low-cholesterol diet, and cholesterol lowering medications—are doing more harm than good. Statin  ...