Mindful Medicine

Naturopathic medicine focuses on treating whole individuals, not just masking symptoms.Many people who investigate naturopathic medicine feel they have been failed by conventional Western medicine. It’s important for practitioners to review all of the evidence and not cherry pick what supports their pre-existing ideas for diagnosis and treatment. Naturopathic practitioners try to treat people based on environment, lifestyle and genetics. Identifying and treating the cause of disease can help treat the whole person by reducing or eliminating symptoms. It’s far more complicated than giving St. John’s wort instead of antidepressant medications. Diet, lifestyle and medication are tailored to the individual’s needs. The goal is for a patient to not require a prescription for life. What does the patient need to do in order to reverse the health status? There are tools that can help strategize this healing. Visit www.naturemed.org to find a naturopathic doctor to help you. Listen in as Guillermo Ruiz joins Dr. Holly Lucille to discuss how important it is to get individualized care.

Get curious about your own health before you get critical about your health goals.“Inherently You” is all about you being well, inside and out.  We have so much access to health and wellness. Experts, websites and apps provide so much information on health and wellness that we should be healthier than ever. But, chronic health issues are on the rise. Cancer will affect 39% of men and women. Cardiovascular events are the leading cause of death worldwide. Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. These are all rising. People have simple health goals: sleeping more, losing weight, feeling happier. You have to learn to make better choices that align with those health goals. You may find your health goals reduce your risk of chronic disease. Listen in as Dr. Holly Lucille shares her journey to becoming a naturopathic doctor, what a naturopathic doctor can do for you, and how your body is designed to heal itself.

Blueberries may be tiny, but they pack a nutritional punch.Blueberries are more than little blue fruits that help prostate health. Dietary changes can help you experience improved healthy. Eating less than one cup of blueberries a day has proven to boost health in clinical studies. Eating at least three servings of blueberries and strawberries per week can save women from heart attacks. An 18-year study showed that it reduced the likelihood of heart attack in these women by one-third. This becomes especially important when you consider heart disease is the number-one cause of death in men and women. Anthocyanin protects the lungs as you age. Blueberries contain this powerful antioxidant. Blueberries are also an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin C, manganese and fiber. They help with cancer prevention, cardiovascular health, and brain power. Make sure you buy organic blueberries. Blueberries are notorious for pesticide absorption. Buy frozen blueberries in season and snack on them year round. Be sure to wash them before eating. Heating or chilling blueberries changes the nutrient density. Less is more when it comes to blueberry preparation. Try enjoying them raw for the greatest health benefit. The healthier the foods you work into your diet, the better your health will be. There are no side effects to eating blueberries. Listen in as Dr. Holly Lucille joins Melanie Cole, MS, to discuss the wonders of blueberries.

We've accepted technology as part of our daily lives. But, the hustle and bustle is taking its toll on your health, human connections and psyche.Are you being efficient when you multitask and have every device going at once? Or, do you need to focus on one thing at a time? Alvin Toefler was the first one to coin the term "information overload" in a 1980s book about the future. The average American digests 12 hours of information and media every day. Notifications, emails, texts, pictures, comments, tags, posts, folders and files fill our days. Our attention is always focused outward as we wait for these things to ping us. Taking time to reflect on your own thoughts and yourself has been consumed by the latest augmented reality game and the group text from your family. Silence is slipping away from you. Our primitive brains aren’t wired for so much constant input. This takes a toll on the endocrine system and spurs overactivity of your hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Our senses are saturated and we’re being overstimulated. We’re losing touch with each other through this extrospecitve society. How can you navigate this modern world? Set some boundaries. Turn off your phone at night. Take time to set your intention for the day before you turn on your phone and let your to-do list be taken hostage with someone else’s stuff. Yes, we’re more involved with our online friends’ lives than ever before. We’re just not having in-person interactions. The one-on-one conversations are good for your psyche. Set up coffee dates. Resist the compulsion to photograph everything you see. Take a moment to enjoy the present. Stop and smell the roses. You don’t have to have photos to prove it happened. Try taking a break from your phone. The stimulus is addicting but you may experience relief without your phone. Put your phone in another room during meal time. Set office hours for your phone use. Habits are more powerful than fears. Work on “me time” as a new habit. Stop stressing yourself out with technology. Listen in as Dr. Holly Lucille discusses how to live a vibrant life while managing technology’s involvement in modern life.

Sick of the drugs? There may be a natural alternative for your condition.There's no money in wellness, but there's plenty of money in sickness. Your body has an innate ability to heal itself. There may be some evidence-based natural healing alternatives you can implement to help the healing process. Steroids can help in the short term for Chrohn's disease. Long-term steroid use can be hard on the body. But, dietary changes can alleviate Chrohn's disease symptoms. Anxiety medications are rampant. You may experience greater relief from hypnosis, yoga or deep breathing exercises. If you're having trouble with insomnia, consider reflexology. Reflexology involves working with pressure points on the feet. A quick internet search will provide you with a map of these pressure points. This may help you sleep better than the help you'd get from a bottle of pills. Take care of yourself. If your doctor prescribes something for your condition and you're not sure it's the best option, get a second opinion. Speak with a natural doctor if you don't feel right about taking a drug or combination of drugs. Listen in as Dr. Holly Lucille shares how natural healing can help you.

Devastation may be a blessing in disguise.Everything's coming up roses... then wham! Devastation. You lose the best job ever. You get an unexpected "Dear John" letter. Today becomes the worst day of your life. That terrible event could lead to better things. It may be a blessing in disguise. How do you react and respond to things? How is your life going to play out because of what just happened? You don't know yet. The divine paradox is looking back at the good things that came about after devastation occurred. Live in the moment and experience what is happening right now. Your greatest power is humility, and your greatest weakness is humiliation. This moment shall pass. Listen in as Dr. Holly Lucille discusses divine paradoxes.

Getting rid of belly fat is all the rage. Your body creates a hormone that burns it for you.When it comes to burning belly fat, your best friend is inside your own body. The leptin hormone is the most powerful metabolic regulator. It's created in your fat cells and tells your brain when you need more energy. It dictates when your brain thinks you're hungry, when you're full, and when you need to create more fat. Leptin resistance means your brain isn't getting the cues. This creates that pesky belly fat. Leptin levels above 12 lead to weight gain, but levels that are too low put you at risk for dementia. Ask your doctor to test your leptin levels. Be sure you get plenty of sleep and reduce your stress. Eat lean meats and a plant-based diet. Reduce your sugar and eliminate processed foods. Work toward a healthy leptin level and aim to reduce any possible leptin resistance. Listen in as Dr. Holly Lucille discusses your best friend for burning belly fat.

Forgiveness is not just something for you to grant others and them to grant you. It's important to learn to forgive yourself.When you think about forgiveness, you probably consider the time your mom forgave you for breaking the window with a baseball. Or, perhaps you think about the time you told your friend it was okay that she missed your birthday party. Forgiveness usually conjures thoughts of other people. You have to start considering how to forgive yourself. Trying new things is a challenge. Screw ups happen. You forgot to pack your salad and wound up buying pizza for lunch. You didn't get a move right in yoga class. You took a wrong turn. It's okay. There's no need to beat yourself up about it. Self denigrating talk can give you permission to keep messing up. If you chastise yourself each time you drop the ball, you set up a system where that punishment makes it okay to mess up again. Instead of always giving yourself a stern talking-to, use a journal or talk to someone about your mistakes. Get out of your head and determine the lessons to be taken away from the errors. Making amends to others who are affected by your mistakes can help you feel better and change your behavior. If someone perceives you've made an error and calls you out, listen. Pause, breathe and acknowledge. Own your mistakes. If you didn't make a mistake, you can still control how you react to the perceived correction. If you can't forgive yourself after trying to change your ways, seek help. A counselor or pastor can guide you. Listen in as Dr. Holly Lucille shares how to forgive yourself.

Learn some of Dr. Holly's favorite resources for skin care, gut health and contaminants.With all the health concerns we’re facing today, it's helpful to have some trusted resources for solid information. Dr. Holly Lucille has a potpourri of information with great places to go to get your questions answered. SkinDeep is the Environmental Working Group's comprehensive list of safe and not-so-safe personal care items. Your skin is the largest organ of your body. What you use on your skin directly affects your health. Power of Poop details the importance of a healthy gut. There is information on getting a fecal transplant to give your gut microbiome a boost. TED Talk addresses the microbiome in the gut. The American Gut Project has a service where you make a donation and send in a poop sample to find out exactly what critters are living in your gut. World Health Organization created this report on indoor and outdoor air contaminants. Type in your zip code and see what you're breathing. WaterKeeper Alliance informs people about pollutants in our natural waterways and why we need to take action to protect them. BYRDIE provides a short and simple list of ingredients to avoid in cosmetics. Remember that your skin absorbs toxins from the products you use. Listen in as Dr. Holly shares her go-to sites for information on skin health, gut health and air quality.

Find out some of Dr. Holly's favorite resources for eating healthy.You want to feed your family well. It’s helpful to know the best places to look for information on food. There are resources that can help you know what you should seek out and what you should avoid when planning healthy meals. The Environmental Working Group has a $15 membership that lands you free samples. They have information on food based on bar codes. They have the updated Dirty Dozen (highest pesticide content) and Clean Fifteen (least pesticide content). There's a shopper's guide to help avoid GMO food, as well as information on filtering water. Moms Across America is a grassroots organization. They are increasing the awareness of the toxicity of glyphosate, most commonly known as Roundup pesticide. Institute for Responsible Technology is the most comprehensive website on the dangers of GMO foods and products. Jeffrey Smith, the man who first sounded the alarm against GMOs in the late 1990s, runs this website. Thrive Market is a membership grocer like Costco. They have gluten-free, vegan and organic food. Wise Choice Market specializes in recently produced organic fresh foods (bone broth, fermented foods, etc.) that can be ordered for delivery. If you're looking for healthy convenience, this is a great option. Holy Crap offers gluten-free, vegan and certified organic breakfast cereals. Wholesome Chow offers gluten-free and organic grains and baking mixes. Listen in as Dr. Holly Lucille shares some of her favorite resources for healthful eating and restricted diets.