Uncle Cheung’s
Posted on by Stephanie Travers266 Worcester Road (Rte. 9)
Framingham, MA 01702-5315
(508) 872-9200
Join Dr. Greig Andrews to discover the untapped healing powers of your spine!
Posted on by Stephanie Travers“The tension and distortions in your spine have probably been there for a while. Within the first few weeks of care, most people become aware that something has been released within them through the assistance of spinal adjustments…
…This is the intelligence of your body activating your healing and growth towards more flexibility and fuller breathing, as well as being more in tune, more creative, better functioning and better performing overall.”
2nd Thursday of each month
At Noon located in Visions Wellness Center
THIS IS A FREE EVENT!
Come see for yourself just how one healthy habit can lead to another!
Posted on by Stephanie TraversJoin Jonah Soolman, RD for this monthly seminar. “FirstLine Therapy is a program that improves your health and simultaneously reduces your lifetime risk of of illness. With FirstLine Therapy, you’ll learn simple tools you can use every day to take control of your health, including diet, exercise, stress management, and appropriate nutritional supplementation.”
4th Thursday of each month
At Noon located in Visions Wellness Center
THIS IS A FREE EVENT!
Choose Harmony
Posted on by Susan Corso, DDMost of us don’t even know that we have a choice about harmony or disharmony in our relationships. We can actually choose harmony.
I have been in both kinds of relationships: ones that ran on a relatively even keel, and ones that were full of drama and trauma. I definitely prefer harmony in relating.
What contributes to harmony? Telling the truth about what you need. Your partner doing the same. Negotiating till everybody gets what they need. Maybe not at the exact time needed, but close enough.
I read an article recently about school children in Tibet. The primary value that they are taught is to create harmony with others. If we make harmony a primary value in our lives, it is much more likely to show up in our quotidian realities.
A valuable exercise is to spend some time investigating what harmony looks like to you and your spouse equivalent.
A good example is … my sweetie likes to channel surf on television and on the radio in the car. I agreed to let it go in the car if I could ask that earphones be worn for TV. I think harmony is about silence; my partner does not.
Knowing what constitutes harmony for yourself goes a long way toward harmonious living.
For spiritual nourishment, visit Dr. Susan Corso’s website and blog, Seeds for Sanctuary. Follow her on Twitter @PeaceCorso and Friend her on Facebook. And discover your own Inner Peace at, To Me Peace Is … What is Peace to You?
Posted in Practitioner Blogs, Spiritual Alignment | Tagged change, harmonious living, harmony, lifestyle changes, practice, silence, spiritual nourishment, spiritual practice |Stop Suffering and START COMPLAINING
Posted on by Wendie Trubow, MD, MBAIt’s amazing what we can put up with. Especially since, for most of us, our health doesn’t start out wonderful and then become terrible overnight; rather, the process is slow, and often quite subtle. So for many of us, things that are NOT normal are, in fact, a way of life. I was diagnosed with Celiac disease at the age of 35, and immediately stopped eating all products that contained gluten. Truthfully, prior to my diagnosis, I did not feel great, but with the exception of the heart palpitations, I thought most of my problems were “just the way my life was”.
It has been 4 years now, and as I look back, I am amazed at all the things I suffered with but did not complain about! I’ll share them with you, so that perhaps it will encourage you to seek help. And by the way, most of the problems on the list are gone.
Here goes…In parenthesis I include my thoughts about each complaint.
Brain fog, memory loss (doesn’t everyone have this when they get older, get less sharp?)
Hair loss (everyone in my family has thin hair…)
Borderline hypothyroidism, fatigue (who ISN’T fatigued working 80 hours a week?)
Asthma, racing heart, heart palpitations, anxiety (well, I have allergies and a high stress job…)
Anemia, iron deficiency, folate and B12 deficiency (I just don’t get enough nutrients; who has time?)
Irritable bowel syndrome, diarrhea/constipation cycles(must be stress)
Terrible, smelly gas (I have a sensitive stomach; other people can just control it better)
Infertility, abnormal pregnancy once attained, miscarriages (I work a lot…)
Thin, cracking, brittle nails with ridges in them (never understood why)
Pain in feet (must need to get better shoes)
TWENTY TWO COMPLAINTS! And not one did I ever make an issue out of! I just figured that this was the way life was, get used to it. I share the list with you in the hopes that you will understand that these issues are ALL FIXABLE. And hopefully you won’t need to get as sick as I did before you get a diagnosis.
So I’ll ask you again to start complaining. At Visions Medical Center, we take your complaints seriously, because there is always a cause. And we mean to get to the source of it.
Posted in Functional Medicine, Gynecology, Practitioner Blogs | Tagged Add new tag, anemia, asthma, bloating, brain fog, celiac disease, constipation, food allergy, gluten intolerance, heart palpitations, hypothyroidism, infertility, iron deficiency, irritable bowel syndrome, memory loss |
The Diet-Pain Connection
Posted on by Julie Freeman, RD, MA, LDHow often do we hear about pain – fibromyalgia, headaches, general myalgias and joint pain? Pain clinics have increased multi-fold during this past 20 years. Why? Much can be attributed to “life in the fastlane” – fast food with a wide variety of chemical components that exacerbate pain, lack of adequate sleep and foods that have been treated with pesticides and commercial fertilizers.
Oversensitized nerve cells can result in amplified pain. How does this occur? Let’s take a look at the following trends: highly refined carbohydrate diets, excessive sugar intake, dairy intolerance, excitotoxins and inadequate omega 3 fatty acid intake, to name a few.
The SAD (standard American diet) has far too much sugar and refined carbohydrate – breads, pastries, crackers, pasta, snack foods and excessive carb/yeast intake can increase the imbalance of gut flora leading to yeast or fungal overgrowth in the gut. Instead, choose high fiber grain foods with little sugar (3 grams fiber or more and 6 grams sugar or less), and keep the portions limited to 1-2 servings per meal.
Pesticides and commercial fertilizers often contain toxic ingredients that cause imbalances in the body which trigger the inflammatory response. Instead, choose fresh, organic foods in season and frozen, organic when out of season.
Nightshades are vegetables such as potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and cherries. These foods contain Solanine, a chemical that may or may not increase inflammation in some people. If one suspects this food group may be increasing pain, eliminate the foods for 10 days and reintroduce one at a time to see if pain is increased.
Dairy foods, such as milk, yogurt and cheese can cause symptoms in some individuals from either the lactose (milk sugar) or whey/casein (milk protein). Irritable bowel symptoms can be exacerbated and IBS is common in pain patients.
Excitotoxins are chemicals that amplify certain neurotransmitters to be released. These excitatory chemicals will increase pain in some individuals. Excitotoxins include: MSG, aspartame and excessive caffeine. Sugar alcohols are not excitotoxins but have a laxative effect and can increase IBS symptoms.
Omega 3 fatty acids found in cold water, fatty fish and some nuts, have an anti-inflammatory effect. It is often difficult to obtain an adequate intake from diet alone since much of the diet is made up of omega 6 and 9 from oils, meats and processed foods.
At Visions, state of the art food sensitivity testing is available which can help to fit the pieces of the puzzle together with regard to chemical sensitivities. While pain management often requires input from many folks, help is available and diet is one component in the overall treatment plan.
Posted in Nutrition, Other, Practitioner Blogs | Tagged anti-inflammatory, aspartame, chemicals, commercial fertilizers, dairy intolerance, excessive sugar intake, fiber, fibromyalgia, food, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, joint pain, meats, MSG, myalgias, omega 3s, organic, pain, pesticides, refined carbohydrates, SAD, standard American diet |Be Playful
Posted on by Susan Corso, DDThis technique is about making a space for your Inner Children in an adult relationship. I know a lot of folks who seem to think that their inner children are now adults, but in working with clients for over 28 years, I’ve never found one adult without an inner child.
The real issue is how do we take care of those inner children in adult relating? We honor them. We make space for them. We listen to them. We allow them to be, to play, to have fun, to cry, to have tantrums, all the things that we have no trouble allowing actual children.
When I’m upset, one of the best things in the world for me is a ride in the car. Not driving a car, but riding. I end up about eight years old as I look out the window. I don’t know what it is that soothes me, but my partner knows when things are “bad enough” to offer a car ride. It works every time.
There’s nothing wrong with space for your inner child in your adult relationships, but there is something terribly wrong with your inner child running your adult relationship or being neglected in your adult relationship.
Make a date with your inner children in your relationship. If someone has to be the grown-up, and say, drive, great. Make agreements and keep them. Your relationship will thank you.
For spiritual nourishment, visit Dr. Susan Corso’s website and blog, Seeds for Sanctuary. Follow her on Twitter @PeaceCorso and Friend her on Facebook. And discover your own Inner Peace at, To Me Peace Is … What is Peace to You?
Posted in Practitioner Blogs, Spiritual Alignment | Tagged fun, honor, inner child, Inner Children, play, relationships, spiritual advice, spiritual nourishment |How To Age Gracefully
Posted on by Mary Jo MacKinnon, FNP-C“Well…….you are getting older.”
Ever received this response when you’ve shared with your health care provider the myriad of symptoms you experience? From body aches to low energy to feeling foggy…this seems to be a catch-all diagnosis. These five words are so frustrating to hear & I’m here to tell you that it’s not true.
Do our bodies go through the natural aging process? Sure. However, there are fundamental ways we can combat the aging process, at any age. We can teach our children, our teenagers, our parents and our grandparents how to live a quality lifestyle right now.
· To start, be conscious of your outlooks on life. Maintain a positive perspective, even when you are dealing with the day to day stresses of life, and it can a make world of difference. Here’s a tip: look in the mirror while you brush your teeth and think of someone or something you love. Hold that thought until you are done brushing and when you feel stressed during the day, think of that special thought and smile.
· Set a goal for yourself, big or small. I was recently inspired by my daughter who, at the age of 25, ran her first marathon. Now, at the age of 45, I’m training for my first half-marathon. Neither of us ever considered ourselves runners, but we now know the race is mostly about mental stamina. Of course you have to physically prepare, which brings me to my next tip on staying young – worship your body! This starts with good nutrition. “You are what you eat”. It’s a popular catch phrase for a reason! Our food supply is in peril. It is up to us to demand better quality food and choose products that serve this body we worship and depend on.
· Learn to read labels. Especially look for high fructose corn syrup. If you see it listed, choose another product. Don’t let the advertisers fool you! Our obesity epidemic has risen proportionately to the rising use of HFCS. Notice the same campaign of misinformation being launched is just like the cigarette company ads decades ago. ..and we all know how that turned out!
· Then there is fast food. Have you heard of the bionic burger? Go to YouTube and enter Bionic Burger to see the video. To summarize, there is a man who has a collection of McDonald’s hamburgers that are up to 18 years old! I found it hard to believe, so I did my own experiment. On August 22, 2009, I bought a hamburger and simply left it up on top of my refrigerator. I checked it weekly to see if any mold grew or it began to rot. Two weeks passed and a spot of mold grew, but stopped. As time passed, the bun hardened, but never molded and the meat never spoiled. I still have the hamburger. It’s available for anyone to see. Why didn’t the meat spoil and rot? Why didn’t the bun turn moldy? I can’t say for sure, but it’s easy to conclude that it was loaded with antibiotics, pesticides and preservatives. We cannot continue to allow ourselves or our children to eat food that is toxic, so drive right past your local fast food restaurants.
· Treat yourself right & spoil yourself, laugh and play. Get a massage or something else to relax you. Look for humor in odd places. Don’t exercise-play! Find an activity you find fun to do-jump rope, play kickball, hula hoop. Alternate between those activities and mindful activities, such as yoga, pilates, tai chi. Your cares will just melt away!
· Last but not least, keep it simple and enjoy the fact that, YES, you are getting older!
Posted in Other, Practitioner Blogs | Tagged "You are what you eat", age gracefully, aging, antibiotics, energy, fast food, lifestyle, lifestyle management, Nutrition, pesticides, pilates, positive lifestyle habits, preservatives, tai chi, yoga |