WHAT MOTIVATES ME TO UTILIZE NUTRITIONAL THERAPIES IN MY CHIROPRACTIC PRACTICE
I didn’t start out as a nutritionist. My background was primarily body and bodywork oriented—first as a dancer, and then a masseuse—before becoming a chiropractor and applied kinesiologist. Little by little I saw the increasing need to assess the nutritional status of my patients.
When I think of nutrition, it’s in terms of one’s optimal function, as opposed to minimum daily requirements for survival. I think about the interactions between cellular and glandular health, and how these affect a person’s energy, motivation, and everyday performance; in other words, the ability to do the things one wants and needs to accomplish without interference from pain or weakness, including musculoskeletal, emotional, or psychological dysfunction.
This way of thinking came about through my encounters with numerous patients who, no matter what I did physically—chiropractic manipulation, deep tissue work, exercise recommendations—their condition would only improve moderately, or for a short term. Through Applied Kinesiology I learned, for example, the relationship between stress, adrenal dysfunction, cortisol output, and inflammation; if one has systemic, chronic inflammation one cannot heal.
Consequently, in order to heal, I had to address the underlying problem—inflammation! I did this by using a protocol that involved removing inflammatory foods, while supporting the adrenal glands through individualized nutritional supplementation.
Take chronic muscular cramping, for example. One could rub the muscle till black and blue, or advise stretching everyday for an hour, or adjust the area of the spine that innervates that muscle, but such treatments would not necessarily be addressing the cause. We would first need to determine what’s making the muscle so tight or contracted. There are a variety of underlying potential causes: dehydration, iron deficiency anemia limiting oxygen supply to the muscles, Vitamin D deficiency, Calcium or Magnesium deficiency, digestive problems preventing absorption of these and other essential nutrients, to name just a few.
As a holistic doctor, I appreciate the need to look at the whole person. Over the years, it has become increasingly clear to me that in order to more fully help my patients, it’s important to consider the nutritional and biochemical needs of each person. Sometimes the cause of a headache is spinal misalignment, sometimes it’s sinus problems, sometimes it’s jaw related, sometimes it’s the adrenals, and sometimes it’s food allergies and sensitivities. So when a person comes to my office with a problem, be it musculoskeletal pain, digestive issues, fatigue (etc.), it’s important for me to consider all the possibilities, every piece of a very intricate puzzle, and treat accordingly.