Dr. Mark and Dr. Chip's Healthy Blogs

  STORY AT-A-GLANCE According to British deputy chief medical officer Dr. Jenny Harries, the evidence for face masks is “not very strong in either direction.” Sweden’s coronavirus pandemic response leader, Dr. Anders Tegnell, dismisses the scientific evidence for mask-wearing, calling it “astonishingly weak” White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx is urging Americans to wear their mask whenever they’re around others, including other household members, while admitting that “when people start to realize that 99% of us are going to be fine,” compliance becomes “more and more difficult” A 2015 study found health care workers wearing cloth masks had a 72% higher rate of laboratory-confirmed respiratory virus infections, when compared to those wearing medical masks or controls (who used standard practices that included occasional medical mask wearing) A working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) suggests draconian lockdown measures implemente...

  Hello Everyone in Natural Health Nation-             What a beautiful weekend! It cooled off just enough to make it very enjoyable outside but still warm enough to not need coats and things like that. It’s great to have things green yet too but we could use some rain as the grass is getting a little brown and it’s very dusty. I hope that you were able to get out and enjoy it and maybe even talk to some friends. I think that people are starting to get over all this stuff, especially hiding in your house all the time-ha.             Tonight for our health shop we are doing a different event. We had planned to do a Dinner with the Docs event where patients come and have supper with us but since all this virus business, we decided to just post the 3 of us going over recipes and explaining how they work. As the kids are headed back to school, we’re getting lots of requests...

Hello Everyone in Natural Health Nation-             Another great weekend, I hope you were able to enjoy it. I’m always amazed at how the world turns and the weather changes here in the Midwest. The days are starting to get a little shorter so enjoy the sunshine and warm temperatures while we can. Don’t forget to eat good quality sea salt to help stay hydrated during the hot weather. Even being inside in air-conditioning dehydrates the body. Some of my patients have told me the MDs are telling them to get electrolytes, that’s what sea salt is simply stated. They have a hard time telling people to eat salt when they’ve been pooh-poohing it for decades. This is especially important if you have leg cramps or start feeling really tired after lots of exertion.             I’ve included a great article today that looks at the real science and truths of the need to eat satur...

            Well we survived the holidays and are well into 2020. I hope that your holiday time was restful and got you ready for the new year. We’re looking forward to a great year as we have many great ways to help patients be healthier and work towards getting away from unnecessary medications and medical debt. I’m surprised and grateful that the weather has been fairly nice for January, hopefully the trend continues. We’ve joked about not having a white Christmas but having a white Halloween instead-ha.             As were into a new month and new year, our topic for the month has changed to looking at Energy. We get our energy from 2 sources in our diet, sugars and fats. Yes the body can run on sugars but the processed sugars that are so rampant during the holidays, are absorbed so quickly the body must do something with them and turns them into fat stored in the la...

            Hopefully you all survived Christmas and some of the foods that you got a hold of-ha. Many of the food diaries that I’ve seen lately have some not so good foods on them but I realize it’s the holidays and you have to try what other people bring. Just like an alcoholic, a sugarholic just needs to get back on the wagon if there has been a relapse. Sugar is just as addictive as alcohol and the problem with the holidays is that it is a societal way of getting hooked back onto eating sugar and processed foods. We all want to be healthier in 2020 so get back on the ketogenic type diet. If you have problems, just give us a call here at Natural Health and we will work you through it.             I’ll try to keep this weeks letter short as were all still working on holiday season timeline. The article that I’ve included looks at using simple household items for cleane...

Weight Loss Simplified II             This handout is geared towards the patients who are having a tough time losing weight. As many of our other handouts talk about toxicity in the body, we are finding this is a much more prevalent problem in folks who are having a hard time losing weight and we must work harder to get these toxins out of the body. With this in mind, we are especially looking at the liver and kidneys and helping these organs to be able to remove these toxins so the body can lose the weight. Were also find that these toxins gum up the metabolic processes and that we must address this issue as well. We’ve also found that further restriction of carbohydrates is especially helpful, working towards a ketogenic, and almost Carnivore type diet. A saying that we’ve come across that seems to work is that the diet is for losing weight, and exercise is for building muscle. In other words, it’s hard to lose weight by jus...

HEALTH (True, Natural, Energetic) = Nutrition and Diet divided by Negative Stress (Physical, Psychological, Emotional, Environmental) If You Want To Be Healthy, You Must Give The Body What It Needs To Repair Itself! Do You Know What That Is? Natural Health and Nutrition Response Testing Can Answer that Question! Call us today and make your appointment so you too can "Get Healthy, Stay Healthy and Live Well" 217-228-2040

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...

What causes Hiccups? As you may or may not realize, hiccups are symptom due to a spasm in the diaphragm. In the world of natural healing, we feel that anything can cause anything.  There must be some trigger though, for that individual to have the hiccups. This could be due to food allergies, indigestion and bloating, excitement, stress or other emotions, and subluxation in the cervical spine. The nerves that come from the spine at the C4 spinal level innervate the diaphragm.  We have had very good success in stopping hiccups by adjusting the upper cervical spine, especially the C4 area if it is subluxated. The T6 spinal level is involved with digestion and adjusting this area can also alleviate digestive problems that can stop the hiccups.  We have also found that using nutritional supplements to help with digestion, i.e. enzymes and betaine hydrochloride, reduce the indigestion and bloating and help to alleviate the food allergies which could lead to the sympt...

What can I do to stop snoring? As you may or may not know, snoring is a possible symptom of underlying issues. In the natural healing world, we feel that anything can cause anything so to stop snoring, you must figure out the cause of the symptom in that individual. Possible causes would include enlarged adenoids and tonsils caused by immune system problems or allergies, extreme fatigue from overwork and stress and possible hypothyroidism, and possible subluxation of the upper cervical spine impinging upon the nerves that allow the body control itself normally. The goal in the clinical setting would be to figure out which one or more causes are involved in that individual. The thyroid connection is often overlooked and we find it to be a very common problem, especially in women. Eating foods that are inflammatory to the body, like refined sugar and flour, can cause the tonsils and adenoids to inflame and lead to snoring as well. So there are many causes and to stop the symptom of s...

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  ...