Key Take Aways from Dr. Elizabeth Perry: Holistic Health Series

This week I had the pleasure of listening to Dr. Elizabeth Perry, a doctor in the realm of Holistic Health.

While the health I practice is Integrative Health, I always enjoy listening to other professionals. Firstly, I’d like to clarify the difference between Holistic health and Integrative health.

Holistic health is best known as alternative medicine instead of conventional Western medicine practice. Integrative health is a marriage of the two; it combines elements of alternative medicine, by taking into account the lifestyle habits of a patient, with Western medicine practices.

Why do I enjoy these different forms of medicine? Because I truly believe that there is so much we can do to live our bests lives. To thrive instead of just survive. As humans, we want more than to just be alive, right? We want to thrive!

Here are the four most interesting take-aways I learned from Dr. Perry. Prepare yourself- some are very surprising!

1) Cold Drinks Are Not Your Friend… Especially As You Age

Believe it or not, temperature of colder drinks is linked to bladder leakage and incontinence. The cold reduces the capacity of your bladder. Ever been in the ocean or a cold pool and felt the need to go? Women, especially after pregnancy, are more prone to experience incontinence. As we age, incontinence also becomes more common. Drinking warm or room temperature liquids can help.

2) Acupuncture For Anti-Aging

Acupuncture on the face has been used for anti-aging to rejuvenate the skin on the face, therefore decreasing wrinkles. How? The process of acupuncture is tied to improving collagen release. Collagen is a fibrous, supportive protein. It is found in bone, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and skin. It helps skin cells adhere to one another and also gives the skin strength and elasticity. Collagen production decreases with age, which can cause skin wrinkling and sagging. Think of acupuncture like… a non-injectable botox!

3) 5 Must Haves For Natural Immunity Boosts

When we’re feeling under the weather, there are natural foods and medicines that can help. Specifically:

• Mushrooms

  • Mushrooms, when eaten, modify your body’s cytokines, which are inflammatory messengers secreted by your immune cells. Mushrooms can help to reduce the inflammatory response caused by these inflammatory cytokines and allow for T cells, B cells, and antibodies to work more effectively.

• Sweet Potato

  • Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes are one of the richest natural sources of beta-carotene, a plant-based compound that is converted to vitamin A in your body. Vitamin A supports a healthy immune system, and low blood levels have been linked to lower immunity.

• Sunlight

  • In addition to Vitamin D, sunlight also stimulates the body’s T cells, aiding your immunity.

• Garlic

  • Garlic also stimulates your T-cells, and, when eaten, releases a compound called Allicin. This compound has been shown to boost the disease-fighting response of some types of white blood cells in the body when they encounter viruses

• Almonds

  • Almonds have high levels of vitamin E which protects your cells from damage. This will give your immune system a leg up when fighting off infection and disease.

4) …Eating Basil? Yes, Yes You Should

What does basil do? I for one think it’s delicious. But, for added benefit, basil:

• Improves blood sugar

• Improves blood pressure

• Improves cognitive function

Listening to Dr. Perry was a pleasure. I found some of these take-aways to be quite surprising!

Curious- what did you find the most interesting?