Life Is Your Best Medicine: A Woman's Guide to Health, Healing, and Wholeness at Every Age
Language: English
Pages: 304
ISBN: 1426209606
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
"The division between conventional and traditional medicine is as artificial as the division between science and nature. They can be woven together in a fashion that meets our physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. This is the foundation upon which integrative medicine is built." -- Tieraona Low Dog, M.D.
In Life Is Your Best Medicine, Dr. Low Dog weaves together the wisdom of traditional medicine and the knowledge of modern-day medicine into an elegant message of health and self-affirmation for women of every age. This is a book that can be read cover to cover but also dipped into for inspiration or insight about a particular physical or mental health issue or remedy. We learn that, despite the widespread availability of pharmaceutical medications, advanced surgical care, and state-of-the-art medical technology, chronic illness now affects more than 50% of the American population. The evidence is overwhelmingly clear that much of the chronic disease we are confronting in the United States has its roots in the way we live our lives. Research shows that if Americans embraced a healthier lifestyle, which includes a balance between rest and exercise; wholesome nutrition; healthy weight; positive social interactions; stress management; not smoking; limited alcohol use; and no or limited exposure to toxic chemicals; then 93% of diabetes, 81% of heart attacks, 50% of strokes, and 36% of all cancers could be prevented! This means that each one of us has the power to shift the odds of being healthy in our favor. And if you do get sick, being fit gives you a much better chance for getting well. Your health has a great deal more to do with your lifestyle and a lot less to do with taking prescription drugs than most people realize.
Part I. The Medicine of My Life is a personal and passionate introduction to the book
Part II. Honoring the Body includes Food, Supplements, Illness, Wholeness
Part III. Awakening the Senses includes Nature, Garden, Music
Part IV. Listening to Spirit includes Humor, Relationships, Play, Meditation, Animals
Epilogue. Contentment
couple of rib eyes from beef that is grass fed and local, and he’ll grill them. This satisfies his craving for red meat and my desire to keep him around a long time! As to milk, people in many cultures of the world only consume milk during infancy. Because of this, many individuals, except those of European descent, have difficulty digesting lactose, the sugar in milk. Casein, a protein in milk, can cause problems for some people with allergies and autoimmune disorders. To make matters worse,
women go through menopause, vitamin D can slow the loss of bone density that occurs with declining levels of estrogen. There is a very large body of evidence showing that vitamin D significantly reduces the risk of falls and hip fractures in women over the age of 65. In addition to its effects on bone, mounting evidence suggests that vitamin D deficiency may be linked with insulin resistance, heart disease, depression, breast and colon cancer, and an increased risk for seasonal flu. Signs of
deserved, given the extensive amount of research showing that omega-3 fatty acids decrease the risk of abnormal heartbeats, which can lead to sudden cardiac death; decrease triglyceride levels; and slow the growth of atherosclerotic plaque (the stuff that clogs your arteries!). Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women. In fact, more women die from heart disease every year than from all cancer deaths combined. In addition to regular exercise, adding fish or a fish oil supplement as
intentioned, I’m sure, but that didn’t ring true. Another friend who practices homeopathy gave me a homeopathic remedy. Didn’t work. An acupuncturist colleague told me waking at this particular time was due to an imbalance in my liver energy. The bitter herbs he prescribed did nothing to help me sleep. I began to dread going to bed. Then, quite by accident, I stumbled upon a book by A. Roger Ekirch, a history professor at Virginia Tech, entitled At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past. His research
first visit, I spend an hour listening to her story and asking questions that allow me to understand who she is. It’s just as important to know about her friends, family, dreams, faith, beliefs, diet, exercise habits, and sleep patterns as it is to know about her high blood pressure, depression, and fatigue, because all these things are intertwined. I also tell my patients to remember that getting sick is something we experience—it’s not who we are. Although it’s a part of us, it doesn’t define