FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE
Dr. Jenny P. Wilkins
Today, the best defense of your health is a good offense. Never before in the history of mankind have there been more possibilities for exposure of healthy bodies to harmful substances. Such exposures are part of what make healthful living a challenge in today’s post-modern society. While there is an illusion of cleanliness and sterility in our suburban environments, physical health is more threatened than ever.
For instance, the number of synthetic chemical compounds synthesized even since the year 2000 is too numerous to list here. A barefoot stroll through your neighbor’s recently treated yard can lead to absorption of xeno-estrogens through the skin of your feet and into your bloodstream that can lead to years of mal-adjusted hormonal effects. While the skin is protective, it is not impervious to such attacks.
Likewise, the lungs are incredibly designed filters, yet they are vulnerable to the chemical-laden air of any busy roadside. Not to be excluded, the digestive system is a ruggedly durable combination of hardy organ systems, but it was never intended to sift through the thousands of synthetic chemicals to which we subject it on a daily basis. Someone might pose the observation, “Well, didn’t our ancestors fail to live as long as we do?” True, but have we decided that we are living long enough? Our ancestors lacked the knowledge of medicine, vaccines, and hygiene from which we now benefit, but there were those individuals who still lived to be 90 years old.
So why are we not reaching 180? Perhaps it is time to apply the newly-discovered knowledge we have recently come to possess. Today it is possible to treat the disease of ageing, and not merely the symptoms. Why wait for your skin to dry up like old leather before treating it with lotion, when you can treat internal problems that are resulting in the external changes?
Why wait until you are out of balance to begin to adopt a healthy lifestyle? In this present age, we cannot afford to sit back and wait for health if we desire the most benefit from current technology and scientific awareness. Today, healthy living requires knowledgeable, preventative, and protective lifestyles and proactive supplemental measures.
It appears that the tendency of this generation is to approach health in the same way that many home owners approach yard care. The home is built, the sod is laid in the yard, the sprinkler system is installed, and a nice green lawn is expected. Of course, this is rarely the result. Likewise, anyone who has ever attempted to begin gardening can attest that there is much more involved than simply planting and watering.
Plush green lawns and beautiful gardens require constant maintenance. Without it, both are overcome with weeds and soon have all the appeal of a highway median. In a similar way, a healthy body requires constant maintenance in order to thrive. Just as good soil needs to be regularly replenished with fertilizer, so also the body needs a regimen of necessary nutrition. It is not enough to eat healthfully and maintain appropriate hydration. While these actions are certainly beneficial, optimal health comes from applying specific knowledge regarding what your particular body actually needs. Just as soil differs from one place to another, each body presents its own challenges. In the past, the proposed treatment has consisted of monitored diets and multivitamins. However, those days are now history. Today, technology allows us to determine exactly which vitamins, minerals, and amino acids our particular bodies are lacking.
While each body is unique at birth, such nutritional requirements also change according to environmental exposure and the ageing process. With regular nutritional checkups, nutritional supplementation can be adjusted to match the needs of the body. Utilizing such attentive care, your body can mature like a beautiful garden instead of a neglected highway median. Join AgeVital on our mission avoid the hazards of an unhealthy lifestyle and begin to reap the benefits of our incredibly complex and technological world. Your body is more than a garden, it’s a home for life. Take a proactive stance in your care of it today. Dr. Jenny P. Wilkins, NMD
