It’s Back to School Time!!!

 

    Once again it is that time of the year where many kids are going back to school.  This can be a bittersweet time.  On one hand this sadly marks the end of summer and on the other, for many moms, the return to school for their children is greatly anticipated.

Here a few tips that can help your children boost their brainpower and get them ready for the scholastic year.

• Start the day on the right foot – a healthy breakfast gives good fuel for the body. Yes, our brains do need carbs but make sure to choose complex carbohydrates instead of simple carbs.  Many American children start their day with cereals full of sugar, white bread, donuts and other sweet pastries.  Instead, try plain yogurt with fresh fruit, oatmeal, whole grain bread, all-bran cereals, and oats.  Some of these grains can be prepared in a slow cooker overnight and served in the morning with some walnuts, almonds and milk like almond, cashew and coconut.
• Let’s continue on the right foot – lunch can be a little trickier especially if served in a school cafeteria. Teach your young one to stay away from the simple carbs at lunch – pizza, pasta, white breads.  These will spike up the sugar levels in the blood making them feel hyper at first and then giving them a brain drain feeling.  Choose lean proteins like white meat chicken, turkey, fish, beans and other legumes, lean red meat.  Ideally these animal proteins should come from organic, hormone and antibiotic -free animals (difficult to find them at the school cafeterias).
• Back home for dinner – This is where parents can have more control on what their children are eating. Use the same examples mentioned above and accompany their meals with some fresh vegetables and salads.  Ideally, each meal should have a balance of carbs, proteins and good healthy fats limiting the amounts of sugar, processed food and food colorings.  Several studies have analyzed the possible link between food colorings and their effect on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other effects on children’s behavior.
• Limit their exposure to the various electronic devices, laptops, tablets, televisions and smartphones. Stop using them a few hours before bedtime.  These devices emit a short-wavelength known as “Blue Light”.  Blue light is a known melatonin suppressive and a major source of sleep disruptiveness.  A good night of sleep is necessary to good health and for getting the brain ready for the next day.  Try to practice “quiet time before bedtime”.  Meditation, prayer, reflections about the day are good techniques to slow and to quiet the mind.   A good night of sleep will make a difference on the child’s behavior and his/her ability to learn and to perform well during the day.  Exercise is a good sleep enhancer as long as it is done a few hours before their sleep time.

This is an ideal time to introduce or reintroduce, after the summer break, a more wholesome diet and healthier lifestyle.  Deficiencies of minerals, vitamins and amino acids will have a gigantic impact on a child’s ability to learn, to focus and do well in school.  A simple, inexpensive and non-invasive hair mineral analysis is a great starting tool to assure that all is in balance with your children to start the school year on the right path.

Want to learn more? Visit my website at www.naturale-solutions.com to take charge of your personal health today!

 

 

 

 

Those Pesky Allergies!

There are many forms of allergies.  They can come from food, environment, pets, chemicals, medications, home products like body lotions, cleaning solutions, scented laundry detergents and  fabric softeners. And lately, we have seen an increased number of allergy cases.

The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America defines “allergy” as an overreaction of the immune system to substances that usually cause no reaction in most individuals.

Here are some facts about allergies from the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology:

“Asthma and allergic diseases, such as allergic rhinitis (hay fever), food allergy, and atopic dermatitis (eczema), are common for all age groups in the United States. Asthma affects more than 17 million adults and more than 7 million children.”

“Allergies are the 6th leading cause of chronic illness in the U.S. with an annual cost in excess of $18 billion. More than 50 million Americans suffer from allergies each year.”

“Allergic rhinitis, often called hay fever, is a common condition that causes symptoms such as sneezing, stuffy nose, runny nose, watery eyes and itching of the nose, eyes or the roof of the mouth.”

“Allergic rhinitis can be seasonal or perennial.”

“Symptoms of seasonal allergic rhinitis occur in spring, summer and/or early fall. They are usually caused by allergic sensitivity to pollen from trees, grasses or weeds, or to airborne mold spores.”

“The prevalence of food and skin allergies increased in children under 18 years from 1997-2011.”

In addition, here are some interesting statistics taken from the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology:

“Number of people in the U.S. who have either allergy or asthma symptoms: one in five”.

“Odds that a child with one allergic parent will develop allergies: 33%”.

“Odds that a child with two allergic parents will develop allergies: 70%”.

“On average, in 2008 children missed 4 days of school and adults missed 5 days of work because of asthma”.

“One estimate of the annual cost of allergies to the health care system and businesses in the U.S.: $7.9 billion”.

“Percentage of people hospitalized for asthma who are children: About 44%”.

“Percentage of people in the U.S. that have asthma: 8%”.

Fortunately, there are several natural ways to deal with allergies.  Here are some well-known natural antihistamines: Vitamin C, Stinging Nettles (Urtica dioica), Quercetin, Bromelain, N-acetyl Cysteine to mention a few.

In addition, these homeopathic remedies work well for the various symptoms associated with allergies:

*Allium cepa – watery eye irritation, nose burns, throat irritation, hoarseness, acrid nasal discharges.

*Euphrasia – tears burn watery eyes, nose runs or is stuffed up.

*Kali bich – sinuses, throat clog with thick, ropy, stubborn mucus.

*Pulsatilla – stuffy yellow mucus, sniffles, cough, sinus pressure.

Proper nutrition can make a dramatic difference; staying away from foods that trigger inflammation such as refined sugars, flours, dairy products, alcohol and processed food can help tremendously. Air purifiers are another great tool to reduce airborne allergens.  Taking off your shoes before coming inside to avoid allergens from entering your home and vacuuming inside your car where pollen, dust and other matters usually accumulate are also helpful ways to control allergens.

Of course, always consult your physician before starting any supplements and/or remedies or if symptoms do not improve.

Want to learn more? Visit my website at www.naturale-solutions.com to take charge of your personal health today!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Naturopathy Explained – Physical Fitness [Part 7 of 7]

Physical Fitness

Use it or Loose it!

Holistic approach – another important pillar of Naturopathy is the physical component.

Human beings were not designed to stay inactive and were genetically programmed for movement, however, in many cases today we tend to be more sedentary than our ancestors.  Between sitting at our desks and commuting to and from work some of us spend anywhere between 8-10 hours per day sitting.  So, what can be done and why is it important to keep ourselves in good shape?

Not everyone can or wants to go to a gym to work out or has a room in their home designated for physical fitness with various types of exercise equipment but even a small area for a yoga mat can help us staying in shape.  Putting aside 20-30 minutes per day for exercise is not an unreachable goal.    Taking a walk or a bike ride in a park is always a “refreshing” activity.  On the other hand, if you don’t want to leave the house, a good yoga routine can be invigorating as well as helpful in keeping our bodies more flexible.

Even when sitting at our desks we can do a few sitting exercises or pacing back and forth as we talk on our phones. Here is one exercise that can be easily done while sitting at your office chair. Sitting with your feet flat on the floor, back straight and shoulders down but with some pressure on your shoulder blades to push the chest forward.  Lift your legs alternatively and put some pressure with your hands on the knees, then expend your leg and flex your foot, hold it for few seconds and put it back down.  Repeat it 7-10 times.  It’s easy, doesn’t cost anything and can be done at any time!

When we exercise, our brain releases myriads of hormones that are beneficial to our health. Hera are a few:  Glucagon, epinephrine (adrenaline) and endorphin to mention a few.   These hormones, along with others released during exercise can help with such things as regulating blood sugar levels, blood pressure, anxiety, depression, weight loss, mental clarity and self-esteem.

Remember, exercising benefits not only on the physical aspect but the mental and emotional as well.

So use it or lose it! And Keep MOVING 🙂

This article is Part 7 of 7 in a series explaining the various sub-categories within Naturopathy – more articles to come soon! In the meantime, you can review previously published articles Part 1 of 7, Part 2 of 7, Part 3 of 7, Part 4 of 7 , Part 5 of 7., and Part 6 of 7. Stay tuned to read more about the individual methodologies behind this safe, effective, natural approach to managing your everyday health!

Want to learn more? Visit my website at www.naturale-solutions.com to take charge of your personal health today!

Hot Off the Press! Not an April Fools! Announcement

ANNOUNCING THE NEW WEBSITE RE-DESIGN FOR NATURALE SOLUTIONS, LLC!

Salvatore Di Liello, N.D is proud to announce the re-design of the Naturale Solutions, L.L.C website, www.naturale-solutions.com and the release of his professional blog, www.salvatorediliello.wordpress.com. The new website serves as an educational portal for both clients and the public interested in learning more about the benefits of alternative medicine and Salvatore’s unique holistic approach to disease prevention and the maintenance of your everyday health.

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HOT OFF THE PRESS!

Salvastore Di Liello, N.D. was recently featured as a collaborator in Balanced Family Magazine’s latest publication (Spring 2016 Edition) “Work Place Well-Being“!

Read expert advise on maintaining work-place health with resourceful tips on how best to incorporate small changes in your daily routine to help make BIG changes to your overall physical and mental health while at the office.

 

 

WANT TO LEARN MORE?

Contact Salvatore Di Liello, N.D. today to schedule a consultation at (330) 719-0598, or send your at http://naturale-solutions.com!

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Naturopathy Explained – Reiki [Part 6 of 7]

Reiki

An Ancient Healing Therapy

The word Reiki (pronounced Ray-key) is composed of two Japanese words Rei and Ki which can be best translated in English as Universal Life Energy. It is a natural healing technique that uses the laying on of hands addressing body, mind and spirit. It can accelerate the body’s own ability to heal physical aliments and opens the mind and spirit to the causes of disharmony, pain and disease.

Reiki actually finds its origin in Tibet in an ancient Buddhist practice that was later rediscovered in the 19th century by a Japanese physician named Mikao Usui. After this rediscovery, Dr. Usui spent the rest of his life practicing and teaching this method of natural healing, which involves attunements to the energy and the laying on of hands. The Usui system of Reiki continues to be taught today by Reiki Masters who are trained in the original tradition of Reiki passing on the techniques from Masters to students.

Reiki has a powerful but gentle energy that has been used to aid in healing virtually every known illness of mind, body and spirit. It does NOT replace conventional allopathic medicine but rather compliments the healing process. Reiki is deeply relaxing and creates a sense of well being which increases the rate of recovery. A Reiki session usually last from 45-60 minutes, it is safe and non-intrusive and the recipient remains fully clothed.

During the session, the practitioner directs healing energy to several areas of the head, upper body and back. Reiki affects each person differently, but it will always act wherever the receiver needs it the most. The Reiki practitioner is not doing the healing, but he/she is simply channeling energy from Higher Intelligence. The receiver’s willingness and acceptance determines the progress that can be made.

Since Reiki is defined as a spiritually guided life force, the practitioner cannot control it. Rather it is directed by our highest Spiritual Source. Reiki is a non-denomination practice that can be learned, practiced and received by anyone regardless of age, race and religious beliefs.

This article is Part 6 of 7 in a series explaining the various sub-categories within Naturopathy – more articles to come soon! In the meantime, you can review previously published articles Part 1 of 7, Part 2 of 7, Part 3 of 7, Part 4 of 7 , and Part 5 of 7. Stay tuned to read more about the individual methodologies behind this safe, effective, natural approach to managing your everyday health!

Want to learn more? Visit my website at www.naturale-solutions.com to take charge of your personal health today!

Naturopathy Explained – Meditation & Stress Management [Part 5 of 7]

Meditation & Stress Management

According to Psychology Today, “Stress is simply a reaction to a stimulus that disturbs our physical or mental equilibrium. In other words, it is an omnipresent part of life. A stressful event can trigger the “fight-or-flight” response, causing hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol to surge through the body. A little bit of stress, known as “acute stress,” can be exciting—it keeps us active and alert. But long-term, or “chronic stress,” can have detrimental effects on health.”

Here are a few examples: It is Monday morning you are getting ready to go t work and you are also getting your child ready to drop him off at school.  Suddenly, right after breakfast, he gets sick and starts to vomit.  Now you are faced with an unexpected situation that requires you to change your plans causing you some disruptions.  If the same scenario had happened on your day off work, your reaction would have been different.

Ever notice that when you are in a hurry, everyone else is moving really slowwww!  They could be moving exactly at the same speed when you have plenty of time and it would look normal to you.  It is amazing how our brain will perceive stimuli and presents them to our conscious mind in a total different way depending on our current state of being.

Stress has an effect on anything that goes on in our bodies and minds. Briefly, it affects the balanced normal work of our autonomic nervous system.  Blood pressure, heart and breathing rates, body temperature, digestion and metabolism, which of course will affect our weight, the balance of water and electrolytes, the production of body fluids (saliva, sweat, and tears) and sexual response.  As you can see ALL bodily functions!

The autonomic or unconscious nervous system is divided into two parts:

Sympathetic – fight-or-flight, great for emergencies!

Parasympathetic – taking care of normal, non-emergency, ordinary situations

Since it is almost impossible to live a stress-free life, the logical question would be:  What can be done to deal with stress?

Sometimes this is easier said than done!   We all have a certain threshold or limitations and sometimes we are faced with situations that push us “over the limit” to the point that we start to feel the ill effect of stress physically as well as mentally.

Luckily, we have several tools that we can utilize to help us manage the stress.

Exercise – this can be as easy as walking for 15-20 minutes to going to the gym and get a good work out or anything else that you personally find as a de-stressor.

Personally, I always enjoy a good walk in nature as well as yoga and martial arts, which help me quiet my busy mind and get more into the present.  This leads me to another of my favorite exercises, maybe not as physical but definitively very efficient in managing stress – meditation.

In the past decade or so, we have seen many shows, documentaries and articles that refer to mindful meditation.   Fortunately, this has become so popular that a single “google search” on this subject produced more than 43 million hits!  One reason that this is so popular, in my opinion, is that it can be practiced at anytime, anywhere without any specific equipment and IT WORKS!

You don’t have to be an Eastern guru or a Buddhist monk to practice it and you don’t have to be in a crossed-legged sitting position (lotus position) staring at your navel.  In fact being “mindful” is really being in the “present” in the “now” slowing down the “monkey mind” (reference given to the busy mind that jumps around from thought to thought) that influences us with as many as 60,000 thoughts per day according to the National Science Foundation.

Practicing meditation has shown benefits from schoolchildren to corporate CEO’s, athletes and anyone else that has practiced it.  It can be challenging at first but as with any other exercises, the more you do it the better you get at it.

This article is Part 5 of 7 in a series explaining the various sub-categories within Naturopathy – more articles to come soon! In the meantime, you can review previously published articles Part 1 of 7, Part 2 of 7, Part 3 of 7., and Part 4 of 7 Stay tuned to read more about the individual methodologies behind this safe, effective, natural approach to managing your everyday health!

Want to learn more? Visit my website at www.naturale-solutions.com to take charge of your personal health today!

Naturopathy Explained – Nutrition [Part 4 of 7]

Nutrition

400 B.C. — Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine”, said to his students, “Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food”.

Nutrition is one of the major pillars in Naturopathy. There is a lot of truth in the often heard phrase that “you are what you eat”. A good diet is a balanced diet and that means eating from all of the food groups: fruits, vegetables, legumes, meat, cheese, nuts and whole grain bread/pasta. This influences overall health in a very substantial way. It is no surprise that the average American is overweight. Nutritional specialists have attributed this to a SAD diet – Standard America Diet. Where fast foods focused on meat, cheese and simple carbohydrates, foods with chemical preservatives and genetically-modified food encompasses the majority of the diet providing empty calories and little nutrition.

A well balanced diet should take into consideration various factors: macronutrients, micronutrients and acid-alkaline ratios. The three macronutrients are: carbohydrates, proteins and lipids. Carbohydrates can be divided among complex carbohydrates– including legumes, grains, whole grain bread and pasta. While simple carbohydrates for example include fruits, honey, maple syrup and other natural sweeteners, whereas refined carbohydrates include refined flour, breads, pastries, soft drinks, and refined sugar.

Another type of macronutrient is the proteins; these can come from animals or vegetables for example: cheese, meat, eggs, fish, seeds, nuts and legumes. The other final macronutrient group is the lipids. They can be subdivided into saturated and unsaturated fats. Some examples of saturated fats include animal fats, lard, butter, cheese and bacon; the unsaturated fats include nuts, vegetable oils, and seeds.

Micronutrients are nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Most vitamins cannot be manufactured in our body and while a few are found in animals most come from plants. Even though one can use nutritional supplements, nothing takes the place of a good diet. Nutritional supplements should be used to “supplement” or to aid the individual and complement his/her diet but not to serve as a substitute for it. Vitamins help convert the macronutrients- Carbohydrates, Proteins and Lipids, to a more metabolically useful form. They function principally as coenzymes (with enzymes) in a variety of metabolic reactions. Each enzyme is specific to one biochemical reaction. Enzymes are catalysts; they speed up specific chemical reactions that would proceed very slowly or not at all without them. Vitamins are necessary to life but we cannot live on them alone, we need food for energy. The deficiency of vitamins however can cause an array of diseases and disorders.

Another consideration is the balance of alkaline and acid foods that are consumed. This is classified not based on their taste but based on their residual impact after they have been metabolized in the body. The ideal is to consume a 70-80% alkaline diet which includes vegetables, most fruits, brown rice, corn, honey, and tofu. These are just a few examples. The other 20-30% of the diet should include “acid” foods some examples are bread, eggs, meat, fish, cranberries, strawberries, cashews, pecans and peanuts. Changing your diet may be a difficult thing to do, however it results in an opportunity to achieve your best health. A healthy diet is an achievable goal. It requires the application of good common sense and paying attention to the food groups we eat.

As always, before making major dietary changes, check with your primary healthcare practitioner for any possible issues.

This article is Part 4 of 7 in a series explaining the various sub-categories within Naturopathy – more articles to come soon! In the meantime, you can review previously published articles Part 1 of 7, Part 2 of 7, and Part 3 of 7. Stay tuned to read more about the individual methodologies behind this safe, effective, natural approach to managing your everyday health!

Want to learn more? Visit my website at www.naturale-solutions.com to take charge of your personal health today!