Politics……oh what a slippery slope. Although this is controversial it’s been consuming my day. So let’s talk about health care…
I think that the mainstream health care system loves to put band-aids on diseases and treat symptoms. Mainstream health care is not invested in long term health. Quite the opposite in fact. The longer you are sick and require doctors visits and medication the more money they make. So insurance companies put their money into the health care system. They do not cover things like chiropractic, vitamins, or exercise. 3 things I find essential to good health. So I don’t see the new health care bill as being helpful to human health nor to the overwhelming financial issues our economy is currently facing.
I strongly believe in alternative care. I believe that expensive diseases like cancer can be cured with a healthy lifestyle. I know several people who have cured cancer by such means. I believe that allergies and asthma can be cured as well. By boosting the bodies immune system you can reverse these conditions. If I thought for a minute that the new government health care plan would help people long term I might reconsider it. But it won’t. Big government is wrong about what kind of health care actually helps. Now with the new law I’m being forced to pay for something I believe is detrimental to people’s health. When health insurance covers my organic veggies, chiropractic care, clean water system, vitamins, yoga classes, and a great mattress then we can talk about people getting healthy. Now I either have to spend a boat load on health insurance coverage that I don’t use, or get fined 1% of my income. Income which should go toward the vitamins that are expensive enough on their own. Big government stay out of my life and give me the freedom to make my own choices!
So the arguments that are out there on this topic have to do with people who currently are suffering and they are excited about not being denied care. I believe a healthy lifestyle will cure them and the healthcare system can’t help with a healthy lifestyle. What about catastrophes? Yes they happen. My brother got punched in the gut and it ruptured his pancreas and he almost died. It was awful. He was working for the Union and they covered him. BUT if they hadn’t I had created a facebook page and was ready to ask people for help. If my son broke his leg, we would pay out of pocket. Doctors allow payments on treatments which is so great. And catastrophe insurance wouldn’t be a bad idea but I still feel like I should have the choice to get it.
So what happens when poor people have a catastrophe and don’t pay? Well most poor people are on medicaid and actually are covered. So the middle class who make too much for medicaid but too little to afford full coverage insurance? They get a huge medical bill that they make payments on. Makes life harder BUT it was their choice not to get catastrophe insurance. And those who get overwhelmed with the bills? They file bankruptcy, which is their constitutional right. And their credit is destroyed for 5 years and their lives upset. I see cause and effect.
Many people see this as being heartless. It’s actually the opposite. I believe in the kindness of people. I believe that people will step up to help each other in need. And most of the people that think the way I do about less government also think the way I do about helping others. Government and insurance need to step back from health care. Allow practitioners who care about helping people do there jobs without the influences of pharmaceutical companies and insurance risks. The market will regulate itself and will be competitive.
So here is our 10 step health care plan. It’s been a work in progress for us since mainstream society doesn’t teach you much about alternative care. Thankfully I’ve learned a lot from friends and family. I hope I’m able to help someone learn about something new and encourage you on your natural health journey.
Our health care plan:
#1 Whole Foods- Eating foods closest to their natural state. No white sugar, white flour, or white rice. No processed dairy, we buy raw Guernsey milk straight from the farm. Free range meats, and eggs(getting a few from our backyard chickens). No high fructose corn syrup, reduced sugars, substituting with honey, or stevia, or powdered monk fruit, or palm sugar. We make our own butter, sour cream, buttermilk, kefir, and I’m working on cheese! Once I figure out how to flavor yogurt better I will make that on a regular basis too. We eat sprouted rice and use sprouted wheat in our baking. We also use homemade almond flour and coconut flour in a lot of our baking. And LOTS of fresh fruits and vegetables. I shop the KC River Market(only certain venders that I know to grow organically), and we order from Fresh Connect for our out of state fruit and spices. Natural sea salt(it should be gray and wet, all those minerals are so good for you!). Sprouts & wheat grass are so good for you too!
#2 Water- We need 8 glasses of water a day. It helps our bodies to function properly. It helps carry out toxins in your system and cleanse the body. Chlorinated, chemically polluted water doesn’t accomplish this and it is effecting may people’s quality of life without them even realizing it. Ideally having a reverse osmosis system along with a water softner would help immensely. We currently order alkalized water from Fresh Connect and bring along dLo water to sports events. When we can we will buy a whole house system.
#3 Vitamins- Reducing bloody noses, growing pains, and moodiness. Increasing concentration, energy, and health. We’ve seen some amazing results with our vitamins and we are huge believers. For example our son was having bloody noses several times a day and we gave him Vitamin C with Bioflavonoids and Rutin and they are now a rare occurrence. Recently I’ve been working on detoxing and that started with an amazing detox from Dr. Schulzes along with his Super Foods vitamin so that my nursing babe didn’t detox with me(yay for Spirulina keeping breastmilk toxin free!).
#4 Exercise!- My husband recently starting lifting weights with his good friend and cousin. He’s seen great results in his back pain and I’ve seen good results in his overall mood. I love yoga and it changes my whole outlook on my day. Everything becomes clearer and I can handle life struggles more easily. Studies show that exercise is one of the best ways to fight depression.
#5 Sunshine- Vitamin D greatly effects your body’s ability to function. Going out and getting some sunshine is essential to a healthy life. Whether it’s drinking your morning tea on the front porch or taking a walk after lunch, allowing those rays on your face means more than a cheery disposition.
#6 Sleep- Getting enough sleep doesn’t get enough credit. 8-9 hours of sleep can mean the difference between a grouchy, depressed, sluggish person and someone with the energy and spunk to make something of the day. Not to mention the years you add to your life by allowing your body to rest and heal itself while you sleep. Sleeping in complete darkness with as much silence as possible will increase the quality of your sleep and healing. Taking a nap during the day is also important and there are many countries that incorporate it into their culture.
#7 Chiropractic- from curing my son’s projectile vomiting, to helping my husband walk, and easing my pregnancy discomforts, I am a huge fan of the benefits of chiropractic care. My chiropractor was also the one to help me discover the necessity of changing our diets. I was toxic and was having adrenal gland overload. My physician didn’t say anything but my chiropractor knew I was “off” and he helped me to realize it too.
#8 Relationships- We are social creatures and creating an emotional support system has been essential for my mental health. My husband is my best friend and he’s an amazing companion. We talk and share with each other as often as we can in our day. I also reach out to women online, who live similar lives, for emotional support. Recently I’ve been connecting more in real life with friends, and my children have reaped the benefits of fabulous play time with friends! And I can’t say enough about having a strong family network when you need to talk about your problems and just have that person listen and love you.
#9 Check Ups- When we need to we will go in and make sure that everything is good. Well woman checks specifically. If the kids are really struggling with something I will call our practitioner and get advice. When my daughter broke out in hives and my baby had eczema all of a sudden we did go to both our MD as well as a Naturopathic Medical Doctor. Our MD told me my daughter would grow out of it while the NMD said it was allergies and started working on her glands to eliminate the allergy. My mother and mother-in-law mentioned our change in diet and our decrease in protein at the time may be causing the issue. Between increasing protein and the NMD treatments we cleared it up within 2 weeks and haven’t had a recurrence for 6 months!
#10 Educate Yourself- Study your own condition and look for natural ways to get healthy. Blindly following an MD’s advice often leads to years of superficial treatments and life long disease. I like to find out what my MD would recommend but I take it with a grain of salt, see what the side effects are, look into it’s long term effects and make an educated decision on how to proceed. When you take an active role in your own health you will often get better results. I strongly believe that their is no illness or disease that cannot be cured through natural means. I use the following as jumping off points for further research: Dr. Feder, Dr. Schulzes, Dr. Mercola, Dr. Sears.
Taking control of your health is worth your investment. Spending your time and energy in living a healthy life will have amazing results. The government forcing me to participate in a system that has been corrupted by large pharmaceutical companies and high insurance fees is not what I consider freedom. I should have the freedom to choose my health care and I take the responsibility for the results.
In response to a facebook comment: Catastrophic insurance is a type of fee-for-service health insurance policy that is designed to give protection against, well, a catastrophe. It is sometimes referred to as a High Deductible Health Plan because low monthly premiums are traded for a significantly higher deductible. This means that with this plan, routine doctor’s visits and prescription costs are more expensive, but monthly premiums are lower. So you take on more out-of-pocket expenses in exchange for lower premiums. If you’re healthy, you save money. But if something catastrophic happens, you’re covered.
Thank you! I agree and you got it all said so I didn’t have to- I posted a status on FB yesterday that said I’d rather pay the fine than get insurance I wouldn’t use and the responses were not unkind, but definitely uneducated. This says exactly how I feel- why should I pay for something I won’t use?? I need dental and vision insurance, but those are rarely included in standard plans. Neither is maternity care and those, aside from 2 ER visits (one for me, one for my husband) in 5 years are the extent of our traditional medical care usage.
wonderful view!
Personally, I belive that we need to tell doctors that they can refuse care if they believe they won't be paid. If someone come sin with a recurring issue, and haven't paid anything towards their bill, unless it is life threatening they should be refused care. It is not right for the doctors to not be paid. It is not right for ME the tax payer to pay for uninsurred people who refuse to pay their medical bills. As such, I am uninsurred….or as I call it, self-insurred. It is my responsibility to take care of myself and my family and to pay my bills and make it so I have a "health emergency fund (thank you Dave Ramsey!)…that's called being a responsible citizen (not a money-grubber).
Your 10 points I agree with. Unfortunately our society is full of lazy people who don't want to work through things, they want the quick fix. They will soon find out that the quick fix is not going to work and it will be REDICULOUSLY expensive.
As a healthcare professional, mother, and seeker of deeper meaning, I feel somewhat torn on the issues. As a Nurse Practitioner I see dozens of people weekly that don’t have health insurance or have a ‘government plan’ that covers a HUGE portion of their health costs, people who have abused their bodies so much for so long that they are shells of a human being. Did society let them down? Why didn’t they ‘get the memo’? Can we really just write it off and say that they ‘did it to themselves’ or just weren’t raised that way? There are also those who have faith in medical science and simply can’t maintain health insurance for one reason or another (pre-existing condition-(I was denied for this!,) high premiums (Cobra=ouch! Needed $950/mo for me and my healthy son-PASS!), part-time employment w/o benefits- even with multiple jobs etc.) Then there are those (few) with a “commercial plan” that allow practitioners to offer health care a “little bit” closer to how we were trained. Insurance companies and govenment ALREADY limit and dictate so much of what we can do as providers of Western medicine. Outcomes are not measured in health, happiness and relationships rather in RVUs ($). Really any way you slice it medicine is not what it used to be and certainly less that it’s potential. Also, western medicine has it’s limitations (although we avoid admitting it), should , at best, compliment what we know from other modalities, I.e. alternative medicine. ALTERNATIVE to what? When did nature and common sense become an alternate approach?
Every day I see waste in excess and a system that is so backwards and stricken with blindness. Good doctors and nurses have been beaten down and shackled to treatment plans that are innately destined for failure because preventitive medicine is not profitable’, therefore abandoned. Sadly, like so many aspects of American culture it has fallen prey to commercialism and greed. What could be MORE profitable than preventing illness, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer?! Without an aim on healthy BEHAVIOURS rather than destruction of already advanced illness we have set ourselves up to always be behind the issue. You don’t win the race by standing at the finish line and shooting everyone else; you win by preparing, training and taking care of your body and showing up on race day well-rested and ready for the journey ahead.
The deadly sins are killing us!
Greed, lust, gluttony…the worst offenders in my book, are driving unhealthy behaviors that have resulted in the unhealthiest industrialized nation in the world. Most of all illness, especially chronic diseases, are preventable. As Brookie-Lee lists just a few of the back-to-basic measures that promote well-being and a healthy society we still find ourselves at odds with the toxic environvent that has blown up around us.
I consider myself educated and informed, and yet I learn new things everyday that accentuate the fact that healthy living is difficult, both to obtain and sustain. At least it requires concious, rigorous, and daily efforts to both inform and initiate. Even once one is “in the flow” with these choices it is a constant battle and one we take on for/with our children.
I find it difficult to be enthusiastic about the current healthcare legislature for many of the reasons that BL mentioned, but also b/c I see how those that do access healthcare (frequently) treat themselves and how the “American lifestyle” of overindulgence and ignorance is justified. I also see our current healthcare industry as utterly non-sustainable.
We need to seriously consider the impact of our actions today on our youth. I know it may be clique but it is our children that are our future and in all our efforts to leave this world a better place really matter. They will inherit all the toxins and all the wisdoms. May we give them the tools to lead a nation from the depths and stand together for the sake of this nation and humanity.
Beautifully written! Thank you for sharing Christina!
Well done!
Whether you support or don't support Obama Care, I encourage you to read this article. I also urge you to listen to alex jones info wars podcast on the internet from Thursday to find out what this law entails and who is really going to benefit from Obama Care.
Christina you are a wonderful source for information. THANKS!