Is your house making you sick?
Tired of the winter blues? Here in Oregon, we just started to see our first sunny days of the year. With the emergence of the sun and better weather, the natural inclination is to be outside and enjoy the world. If you don’t feel that way, there may be a reason why. The fatigue and inflammation you feel from being stuck inside over the winter eating processed foods and sugars while sitting around scrolling through the internet may be holding you back.
As a species, we have had to adapt to living and working predominantly indoors. We evolved as beings that work outside, hunt our prey and tend to our crops. Our modern structures are filled with artificial lights, air, and are contaminated by chemicals from the offgassing of toxic building materials. This has become such a problem that the World Health Organization (WHO) designated Sick Building Syndrome as a condition in 1986 when it was estimated that 10-30% of new office buildings had air problems. Unhealthy living and working environments contribute to many different conditions including diabetes. Besides increasing exposure to toxicity, these spaces create poor mood and cognitive abilities, including depression, confusion, and brain fog, as well as influencing a diabetic state.
The summer is a great time to get outside and enjoy the gifts of Mother Nature. Breathing fresh air and allowing the sun to hit your skin helps decrease your toxicity and promotes healing and reestablishing health. Staying inside in unhealthy spaces, stuck to your electronics, eating unhealthy foods is a great formula for establishing disease, especially diabetes. Below are some tips for getting outside:
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Find an outside space to eat lunch each day when working. Even a covered area can provide fresh air on rainy days.
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Parks with shading trees are a great place to relax, have fun with the family, or even just read a book. Utilize these great spaces.
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Get sun on your body but if needed, covering up with breathable clothes is a better option to avoid over-exposure and reduce the risk of a sunburn then putting toxic sunscreens on your body.
And here’s your bonus tip for having fun in the sun:
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Establishing a routine for being outside is crucial for sustaining health. Creating a social group to exercise outside or even ongoing events such as weekly potlucks can be a great way of getting outside as well as building positive relationships.
Remember that "health is not found in a bottle" but targeted supplementation can help you to buy time while you establish routines and maximize body recovery. Two things we are aware of is 1) we acquire vitamin D from exposure to the sun, and 2) much of the population has a vitamin D deficiency, including in countries such as Malta which has most of the sunny days in Europe! This deficiency comes from inefficient metabolism rather than not having enough Vitamin D. While working to establish a routine and heal, supplementing Vitamin D with K is a great way to provide your body with enough nutrients to function appropriately in the health recovery plan. We sell different blends of Vitamin D with K at the clinic that we trust and have seen positive results from. Come see us and see which one is right for you!
I am so excited to connect with you more! I always appreciate and look forward to your feedback. Please let me know if there are topics that you would like for me to write on by replying to this email.
Yours in health,
Dr.Buttler
