Integrated Health in Lincoln,Nebraska

The more we learn about the human body and how the changes in our environment are adversely affecting our overall health, or conversely with modern findings of what is positively influencing health outcomes, the more our approach to good health has adapted to embrace what once were considered to be “alternative” methods.

Whether referred to as functional health, integrated health, holistic health, or any number of related terms, many of us are moving to a comprehensive approach to our own health and wellness that involves more than just a trip to our primary physician for a yearly physical. Whether it’s better nutrition, more exercise and movement throughout the day, targeted adjustments to better care for our bodies, supplements and holistic therapy, balancing our hormones, or any other host of progressive methods, we are currently able to address a lot of issues with innovative solutions that keep patient-centered care and positive outcomes at the forefront.

While humans have been around for millions of years, our current food supply hasn’t. Human organisms don’t adapt quickly so we won’t truly understand the impact our food supply is having on us for a few generations down the line, which is a scary thought. Food provides the energy that sustains our body, so it is of the utmost importance to take a critical look at your diet and how it affects everything about your overall health. Simply put, healthy food comes from a healthy planet. The mainstay of any diet is intake of a wide variety of healthy vegetables and fruits. These were designed to balance our systems, but if you’re eating something grown in bad soil, the quality decreases. As protein accounts for the building blocks of our body, focusing on grass fed meat as opposed to genetically modified grain is another key item. Healthy fats are essential too – we’ve gone down a really dangerous path with genetically modified food that has inflammatory properties. Substituting extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil instead of vegetable oil or grass fed butter instead of margarine are a couple of excellent examples of this. Furthermore, any items marked low fat or zero carb are generally a chemical-rich product. There is currently so much missing from grains that they have unfortunately become something to avoid, with quinoa and wild rice being just about the only exception. Overall, it’s critical to find food that will support your body and enhance its daily functioning. If you can get everything in harmony it will be hugely beneficial to your health both now and in the future.

If you’re looking for a source that you can trust for healthy food items, consider The Edible Source (ediblesource.com). This company is currently employing some of the best natural ways to grow and raise food sources in the region through community supported agriculture (CSA).

Aquaponics – The Edible Source grows fish and plants together in one seamless, integrated environment. The fish provide a nutrient rich environment for the plants while the plants act as a bio filter to clean the water for the fish. All the organisms work together to produce a balanced ecosystem where everyone wins. Tilapia develop in this environment without growth hormones or antibiotics, and are fed only the best azolla (a floating fern), algae, insects, flax, chia, amaranth and quinoa available on the market.

Fresh, Natural Produce – You will not find pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, GMO’s or growth hormones here! Similar to subscribing for a share of all of the produce from a farm, The Edible Source allows you to subscribe for a share of the farm’s infrastructure. When you subscribe, you select the plants or products you would like to receive on a weekly basis. The Edible Source reserves your space and begins planting. In as little as three weeks you could start seeing your first harvest! If you cannot find what you are looking for, or have an unusual request, The Edible Source can make special arrangements to grow products just for you. The Edible Source harvests produce the day of delivery and can deliver produce to the Lincoln area on Tuesday or Wednesday throughout the year.

Profile by Sanford is another great resource in our community for working towards achieving a healthier diet and lifestyle in general.

“Obesity is a major health issue that our society is currently facing,” emphasizes Steve Holzwarth, owner of the Profile by Sanford Lincoln location (www.profileplan.net). “Portion control is critical, along with carefully reading and analyzing food labels and in terms of activity, doing what you enjoy doing and focusing on the time and intensity spent doing those workouts.

We encourage people to work towards living a healthier lifestyle and make healthier choices both in life and with their food choices. Our certified health coaches are there through our members entire lifestyle change, especially in the final phase, Sustain, which is most important and is a never-ending phase.

We put together individually tailored weight management plans for our members. Every plan is a little bit different based on the member’s lifestyle, goals and what they would like to get out of the Profile plan. Our certified health coaches educate our members in Nutrition, Activity and Lifestyle on a weekly basis as well as utilize our meal replacement products as well as whole food grocery meals.

There are a lot of incredible benefits to being healthy, and not every person’s path is the same. We can teach you how to make healthier choices. Take 30 minutes to visit our store and meet with one of our very knowledgeable health coaches to see how a tailored Profile plan can work for you.”

Chiropractic care also takes a natural, non-invasive approach to overall health and wellness in focusing on caring for the whole person.

“At Holmes Lake Chiropractic it is a joy to work with patients who want to improve their health and wellness and to be a guiding hand along the way,” says Dr. Austin Weaver, chiropractor and owner of Holmes Lake Chiropractic Group (www.holmeslakechiropractic.com). “There are three main areas we focus on when approaching a health care plan or wellness regimen.  To get the best sustained results in the shortest amount of time a person must move well, eat well and think well.  If these three criteria are not addressed then the plan is more likely to yield slower health gains and possibly failure.

Holmes Lake Chiropractic can play a direct role in your health and wellness plan.  A healthy spine is often overlooked and is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. People, who suffer from pain or discomfort long-term, are generally less healthy than those who do not. In fact, back pain costs are staggering not only financially, but also in terms of lost time from work and enjoyment of life.  By helping you move and function better through care, it will decrease your pain and discomfort, while increasing your enjoyment in doing the things you love.

In addition to helping patients get back to doing what they love we will also go through a diet and nutrition plan to help them eat well.  There are a lot of food myths and false beliefs about what we put in our body and how it affects us. By addressing a few key things in peoples’ diets can drastically improve their feeling of health and being revitalized.  Also, our diets fall short on many of the vitamins, minerals, and enzymes our bodies need, so supplementation is also very important when talking about proper diet and nutrition.

The least one talked about, but possibly the most important and hardest to do, is to think well. A positive attitude is paramount to succeeding with a health and wellness plan.  Constant positive affirmations and reminders can keep people motivated and accountable. It serves no purpose to think negatively about things as it only perpetuates the situation and focuses on what is not being done instead of what can be done.  It is not expected to be perfect when on a health and wellness plan, which is why when a slip up occurs it is best to acknowledge it, move on and do better next time.

At Holmes Lake Chiropractic we can help address a variety of things along with back pain and discomfort – here is a little bit more about the three key areas I’ve mentioned.

Move well: An absence of pain does not mean health.  It is important to focus on posture and move often to keep our bodies, joints, muscles, and organ systems healthy.  Micro breaks, or 2-5 minutes every hour of standing up and moving your arms and legs, can drastically lower chronic neck and low back issues. Walking or exercising for 15-30 minutes every day can lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and improve blood sugar levels.

Eat well: Keep it simple. Eliminate or limit simple carbohydrates and sugars and increase your vegetables (and protein if working out).   A carbohydrate breaks down the same as sugar, so that means breads, dairy and even fruit need to be limited. Also, the more processed or preserved the food is, the more additives it will have leading to less nutritional value. With fall and winter coming up we will be exposed to the sun less often, so Vitamin D3 is very important, along with Omega 3, and usually a probiotic or digestive enzyme is helpful. Of course if you are on prescription medication you will want to check for any contraindications to these supplements.

Think Well: Meditate, pray, or do what makes you feel good first thing in the morning. This can get your day started right.  Make a conscious effort to avoid self-defeating thoughts and give yourself a pump up talk if needed.  Some may think it’s silly, but it does have an impact on how we interact with ourselves and others.

Again, I can’t stress enough that the key to enjoying and benefiting from a healthier lifestyle is to do your best to move well, eat well, and think well. Don’t expect to do everything perfectly because no one does.  It’s a journey and as long as you are always improving on your health and wellness goals, the coming year will leave you with better health than the previous.  Chiropractic care can help address all three phases of being healthier and we are here for you if you would like to take that journey.”

Another essential of health and wellness is utilizing natural supplements to fill the gap between the nutrients your body needs and what it actually gets from your diet alone. There are also plenty of natural and herbal remedies for a host of medical conditions that could be far more beneficial than pharmaceuticals in many cases.

“Herbs & More helps to support a healthy lifestyle by providing vitamins, minerals, herbs, etc. and we are happy help customize an herbal plan for you depending on your needs,” explains Julie Boyd, co-owner of Herbs & More (www.herbsandmorene.com) . “The key things one can do to enjoy a healthier lifestyle would be taking a good multi-vitamin and a good probiotic, as both will help you to get your body in balance with a nutrient-dense diet.”

She also notes, “Currently we have been having a big push for immune boosters with kids going back to school.  We can recommend different immune boosters depending on the need.”

For optimal health and wellness, it is also very important for your hormones to be in balance and working for you, not against you.  Holistic Harmony Healthcare specializes in assessing which hormonal levels are out of balance, and restoring that balance with natural therapies.  Debbie Reynolds-Hughes, Nurse Practitioner and owner of Holistic Harmony Healthcare (www.holisticnebraska.com), explains, “There are many different factors that can disrupt optimal hormone balance.  My goal is to help patients with lifestyle changes, which can be really hard but it is the only way to have complete healing of any hormone imbalances that exist.

Your hormone levels will fluctuate and decline as you age, but you can restore proper hormone balance through natural bio-identical hormone replacement therapy. This can be delivered in a plant-derived compounded form that can be ingested with a lozenge, applied topically, or through Hormone Pelleting, which is a simple in office sterile procedure that inserts a pellet in subcutaneous tissue and slowly releases hormones over three months.  Once your hormones are in harmony again, the symptoms will usually disappear. When your hormones are properly balanced, your quality of life will improve. You’ll feel younger, more energized and more emotionally balanced. Hormones are the chemical messengers of your body, so when they’re properly balanced and functioning, all of your body systems work more smoothly.  With accurate testing, and medical supervision, you can discover your current hormone levels. If your levels are low, using a combination of bio-identical hormone replacement therapy, nutrition plans, supplements and fitness guidance, our nurse practitioner can help you naturally balance your hormones and feel better than you have in years.

I am also board certified in anti-aging medicine, so I help people not only feel good on the inside but also on the outside.  My analogy is that if you are driving an antique car that starts to get rust and dents, you take it to the body shop to fix it up.  The same is true for aging; once you get your hormones balanced and you are feeling good but you look in the mirror and think ‘What the heck happened?’ you can also get your vibrant appearance back at any age.  Not that you need to look 20 years old again, but that your outside reflects how good you feel on the inside. This can be done with a variety of aesthetic services that we offer.

As it is my goal to treat the whole person, Holistic Harmony Healthcare offers a variety of services that serve to balance the mind, body and spirit.  This includes aesthetic services, Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy, a holistic bar full of items that provide nutritional support and detoxification options, nutrition therapy, lifestyle coaching including weight loss and fitness, and psychiatric services.”

With the demand for alternative methods to keep us healthy due to the complicated and toxic world that we find ourselves in today, there are many fantastic resources in our community to utilize for a host of different health-related information and products or services that work to support our wellness now and well into the future. As it can be overwhelming with so many options and information out there, make sure to consult the local experts who can guide you towards the newest and most effective avenues towards reaching optimal health and wellness!