Entries Tagged 'health and wellness' ↓

It’s hard getting good health insurance, and when you do, it can be harder finding a good doctor.

You may be lucky enough to get a recommendation from a trusted friend or family member. But usually you’re stuck having to choose someone from a list.

Then you make your appointment, patiently wait to be seen, and when the moment comes to start talking to your doctor, you only get 15 minutes!

Most doctors’ offices offer extended appointments (we do!), but they are usually reserved for specific patient circumstances.

So how do you really get your money’s worth within 15 minutes?

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From time to time, we’ll point you to other blogs besides our own, with particularly juicy or thought provoking content.

This post, here, is one of them.

Kathryn Woodall’s blog, A Comfortable Soul: Creating balance in your life, discusses matters pertaining to health and exercise. Health and wellness are big themes, there, but more from the inside out.

Less, “Do this exercise 12 times in 4 minutes,” than, “Put health first in your training, as well as your life.”

A nicer definition of Health, and what we should all be shooting for, I haven’t read in a long while.

We try to promote healthy habits at Family Care Centers.

Especially if you have issues with weight, or blood pressure, or cholesterol, you’ve probably heard us recommend changes in diet and exercise:

• Reduce your intake of saturated fats
• REALLY cut back on your starchy carbs, and up your intake of colorful fruits and vegetables
• Exercise more regularly, at least 3 times a week
• Get the down to a healthy body weight

These recommendations are key, and if you can adopt them, a good many of your health woes will either disappear, throttle way back, or not occur to begin with.

But if it were that easy, everyone would be doing it…and Big Pharma would be out of a job.

Here’s a link to a related website, to help you stick it to ‘em, and get healthier in the process:

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[This is Part 5 of a 7 part series. -- PK]

5. See Your Doctor Periodically

Well, you should have seen that one coming.

But seriously, there are some excellent reasons to make an annual physical a cornerstone of your plan for health. Overcoming your dread of the gloved finger, or the mammography squish, will pay you enormous dividends with the very first problem you let your doctor catch early.

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Most of us can recall an encounter with the vitamin aisle at the supermarket, pharmacy or health food store.

It can be a confusing, frustrating event.

Vitamin C for colds, vitamin B for energy, calcium for your bones…we can even have trouble recalling what certain supplements, like copper, are supposedly good for. And there are dozens of brand names to choose from.

I can certainly understand people’s cynicism about supplements, given all the conflicting news out there. Currently, there are no recommendations from the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) on using dietary supplements to prevent such health conditions as heart disease or cancer.

However, there is plenty of data that supports supplementing our diet with certain vitamins to optimize health. This is especially true for people in certain high risk groups and those who are not following a healthy, well-balanced diet.

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I can’t exactly say that I’m a shining example of health.

As a physician and family man, I think I do okay: I exercise regularly, including martial arts at least twice a week, don’t smoke or drink, and try to moderate my stress levels (haw).

But I don’t weigh what I did when I was a high school senior, and drink more coffee to get through the day than I’d care to admit. I eat too many carbs, get too little sleep, and don’t eat enough organic food.

These may not sound like much, but they should.

Nevertheless, I can still recommend 4 of the most important ways to avoid an early grave, and have a fine old time doing it (there are 7, but the final 3 will be in the next post). Partly because I’ve seen a lot of people do it right and do it wrong. Partly because the medical field has seen a lot, and has the studies to back up the advice it’s trumpeting from the mountain tops.

But also because, hey, the advice is so sensible and my self-respect has increased enough that I’m finally adopting the following principles myself.

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I’d like to share a resource with you, which I’ve personally found helpful for getting fit, and recommended to family, friends, and patients.

It’s a dvd called FlowFit, and in a health promotion unique to the industry, its manufacturer is now offering it free to every American (one dvd per household). No strings attached.

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Something radically new is coming to Orange County, and we hope you are as excited about it as we are.

After 12 years of operation, Family Care Centers Medical Group is moving into the 21st century with this Health and Wellness blog. Distinct from our office website that clarifies our location, services, hours of operation, and insurance information, this blog is about our philosophy of health.

We firmly believe that wellness is more than about treating illness once it has already begun; we encourage you to move to “the next level” of preventing problems proactively, and improving the function that you already have.

This blog is specifically designed to bring you, our existing and new patients (welcome!) the most up to date information on health and wellness in Orange County. While we hope to be a fun read, our aim isn’t to simply entertain, or to be controversial for controversy’s sake. Our goal is solely to provide information and discussions that help you

1. to be better informed about your body and how it works
2. to be clearer about your medical options
3. to be more aware about community resources and even national events that can help or affect you and your family.

Our aim is to work with you; come on back to see why, and how.