DavidSandstrom.com

David Sandstrom 0:00
Welcome to the Natural Health Matters podcast where it's all about maximizing your health potential so you can pursue the abundant life more effectively. I'm your host, David Sandstrom, Naturopathic Doctor and Biblical Health Coach. And this is episode number zero. If you guessed by the episode number that this is my first episode, you would be right. But it's not my first recording. I originally recorded this episode on May 27 2020, and today is April 8 2021. Almost a year later, I'm re recording this introductory episode to reflect the show's name change. Starting with Episode 42, and beyond Holistic Health Matters is going to be called Natural Health Matters. Natural Health Matters more accurately reflects the true nature of the show. There's a little bit of rebranding going on, and the artwork is going to be different. In Episode 42, I explained the thought process behind the name change and the message the show artwork is intended to communicate. If you're curious about that, you can go check out Episode 42. It's called What's in a name.

David Sandstrom 1:09
If you just check this podcast out for the first time, welcome. I want to give you some reasons why you're going to want to follow the show, subscribe and become a regular listener. I want to tell you who this show is for, I want to tell you what makes me qualified to sit behind this microphone and offer health advice. I want to give you the format of this show. I want to tell you why I started the show the type of content you can expect here. But more importantly, what this content can do for you. I want to serve you by providing information that you can use to transform your health and well being. I want to give you tips and strategies that you can easily implement into your daily routines. That's what this podcast is about.

David Sandstrom 1:55
Real health is more than simply the absence of disease. Real health is more than just eat right and exercise. Pursuing real health and vitality is more involved in that because human beings are more than just a random collection of atoms and molecules. Human beings are more than just a body. We are spirit, we have a mind. And we live in a body. It's my contention that we maximize our health potential by aligning our lives more fully with God's design for spirit, mind and body. Which means that when we think speak, and act in ways that are consistent with our natural design, we increase our likelihood of enjoying vibrant health and vitality. And when we're enjoying vibrant health and vitality, we're in better positions to live the abundant life. So what kind of information you got to find here.

David Sandstrom 2:49
If you're looking for an allopathic or medical approach to your health challenges, this is probably not the show for you. Medically based information is easy to find. But that's not the focus here. allopathic medicine is what medical doctors are trained in and most of them practice. They're trained to name it, blame it, and tame it. ou go to the doctor, you talk to him for a few minutes, you describe your symptoms, he takes your collection of symptoms, assigns a Latin name to it and calls it a disease. And then he blames your symptoms on that disease. And then they want to tame it with drugs and surgery. Now, this is a little tongue in cheek but it's not very far from the truth. You see their licensing boards, a doctor's licensing board compels them to operate that way. Drugs and surgery do have their place. They're great with emergencies and acute conditions. If I get busted up in a car accident, man roaming into the nearest emergency room, give me all the drugs and surgery you need to save my life. totally appropriate in certain situations. It can be life saving, and allopathic medicine shines in the emergency room. But with long term health challenges, that style of healthcare loses some of its luster. When the emergency is over, our pursuit of health is better served with natural protocols and lifestyle interventions. In short, you don't have a headache, because you have an aspirin deficiency. Now, here's an important distinction. The allopathic medical profession or traditional medical care, treats the illness that has the person as opposed to the natural practitioner that treats the person that has the illness. They're two very different approaches to health. I'm a naturopath and my approach to health is a natural one. Natural in this context means according to God's design, again, we maximize our health potential by aligning our lives more fully with God's natural design for spirit, mind and body. So who is the show for if you're not feeling right and

David Sandstrom 6:42
Maybe you'd like to lose a few pounds, I can help you with that too. By embracing a natural health lifestyle, your weight will automatically stabilize at a healthy level, it happens by default, you won't even have to think about weight because Healthy People have no problem maintaining a healthy weight. Being overweight is not the problem. Obesity is a symptom of being in an unhealthy state of wellness, we need to stop chasing symptoms and go after the root cause of what's ailing us. In other words, we don't lose weight in order to get healthy, we get healthy in order to lose weight. You see the difference? with naturopathy, we treat the person that has the illness, not the illness that has the person.

David Sandstrom 7:28
Maybe you'd like to age more gracefully, stick around. A Natural Health lifestyle will not just make you appear to age more gracefully like creams and lotions or plastic surgery, you actually will age more gracefully. Again, it happens by default with healthy lifestyle. Maybe you're in great health and you just want to keep what you've got you want to maintain. I can help you with that too. If you're interested in any of this, and you're a follower of Jesus Christ as I am, you're really gonna love this show. Because all the advice I offer is filtered through a biblical Christian worldview. So why is this show called natural health matters.

David Sandstrom 8:10
Natural means in accordance with God's design, I see complete unity between the natural approach to health and what the Bible teaches about the human condition. The natural approach acknowledges the fact that we are spirit, we have a mind or soul. And we live in a body. There's three parts to a person. And all three parts are interconnected and interdependent. What affects one part of our being well by necessity, all to the others for good or bad. So each part of who and what we are impacts our health outcomes. There's three parts to a person, and each part has three pillars, or focus areas. So there's a total of nine focus areas. Our spiritual component is the source of our love, joy and peace and love, joy and peace are very much health promoting. So that makes the spiritual very important. The most important aspect of spiritual health is love. The three pillars to spiritual health are our love for God, our love for others, and love for ourselves. love for God is about being in an intimate, connected relationship with our Creator. Jesus taught that the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. love for God is our starting point for embracing a natural health lifestyle. Everything we do flows out of that foundational relationship. love for others is about enjoying connected relationship with friends and family. The Bible says it's not good for man to be alone. relational connectedness is an important natural health building concept because loneliness is a massive risk factor for all kinds of diseases and premature death.

David Sandstrom 10:01
Love for ourselves is all about self care. It's about eliminating any form of self loving, and understanding that our real identity and self worth come from the fact that we're made in the image of God, and therefore we have great value. Health in mind involves our mental emotional component. Health in mind is all about getting off thought lives, right? The three pillars for our thought lives are adopting a winning mindset, identifying and correcting limiting beliefs, and practicing emotional intelligence.

David Sandstrom 10:37
Adopting a winning mindset is all about getting clear on our Why, why we want to get healthy in the first place. When we're clear on our why we'll find our way. right mindset will keep us going when the going gets tough. It'll be our lifeline when we feel like quitting. Without it, we're dead in the water. Without the right mindset, we're stuck in neutral, and we can't make any progress. our beliefs are like the track that keeps the railroad car from drifting off course. We need to identify and correct limiting beliefs because what we believe determines what we think what we think determines how we behave. And how we behave, determines our success or failure in life. Practicing emotional intelligence is about not being a time traveler. We live in the present, we shouldn't allow our hurts from our past interfere with our present. And likewise, we shouldn't let fear of the unknown future, rob us of our joy in the present. Health and body is more self explanatory, right? health and body includes a lot of things. But again, I like to focus on three pillars, the three pillars for body our nutrition, movement, and sleep. Nutrition, we should be eating food as close to its God given natural form as possible. When it comes to food, we need to give our bodies less of what they don't want, and more of what they need. And that includes intermittent and extended fasting. We'll have future episodes on those movement. Our bodies are designed to move. I'm talking about more than just a half hour at the gym three times a week. We need to incorporate movement throughout our days every day. That's the way we're designed. Sleep. Sleep is critical. We should think of sleep as a nutrient because it is all kinds of important bodily functions are supported with a good night's rest, including detoxification, hormone production, and a whole lot more.

David Sandstrom 12:47
Now, here's an important point. We can be doing everything right in the physical. But if we aren't experiencing health and spirit and mental emotional health, health in mind, our physical vitality will suffer as a result. Health and body is supported by health and spirit and health in mind. That's because each part of a person is interconnected and interdependent, which means what affects one part of our makeup will inevitably alter the others for good or bad. If you want to get a more complete explanation as to the relationship between spirit mind and body. Listen Episode 42.

David Sandstrom 13:26
So who am I? What makes me qualified to talk about health and wellness? Well, I'm a certified nutritional counselor. As I already mentioned, I am a naturopathic doctor. I've been trained as a Functional Diagnostic nutrition practitioner. I'm a certified advanced metabolic typing advisor, which is a way of eating. I'm a certified biblical health coach. I'm an author. My book is called the Christians guide to holistic health. I also have an MBA, and I'm a full time airline captain. Although flying big jets by day job, it's not my passion. Helping people resolve their health issues is far more gratifying for me to see because I'm really a teacher at heart. I used to ever practice with a brick and mortar office where I did health coaching both one on one and in group sessions. Along with my practice, I've done some public speaking about health and wellness as well. Now I don't have the practice anymore. Today my focus is on educating people with this podcast.

David Sandstrom 14:30
Another thing I want to mention on this episode is why I started the podcast in the first place. I started the podcast in the spring of 2020 when the covid 19 pandemic was really starting to take hold. I was really disappointed with our government's recommendations. Recommendations we're getting from the Centers for Disease Control prevention, the National Institute for Health, the World Health Organization and others. the kindest thing I can say about their recommendations is that they're Well, shall we say less than ideal. All they're telling us is to avoid, avoid, avoid. Stay home, stay safe. Don't gather in large groups, wear a mask, wash your hands frequently. Not a word about strengthening our internal terrain to make us more resilient to infection or illness. You see, those recommendations are based on a concept called germ theory. germ theory was first put forth by a French biologist by the name of Louis pasture in the middle 1800s. You may recognize his name because he is the one that came up with pasteurization. germ theory says it's the pathogen or the germs that make us sick in our defenses against germs are largely unalterable. So since we have little to no ability to increase our resistance, our best defense is to avoid contact with germs altogether. Our medical system and the government officials that are listening to the medical community have bought into germ theory headlong. They swallow that worm, hook line and sinker. Now, prudent avoidance is not a bad thing. But the trouble is, we can never entirely avoid germs, we easily come in contact with 10s of 1000s of potential pathogens every day. Generally, our immune systems are up to the task. A better public health policy would be to educate people to encourage their bodies to become hostile environments for any undesirable microbe, including COVID-19. We need to strengthen our internal terrain, so that we become more resilient to any infection or illness. That's my area of expertise. And I decided that it was time to start the podcast because people need information they can use information that will not only help combat infections, but also help you live a more full, vibrant, active, abundant life. Seeing more people live the abundant life is also a passion of mine. Jesus said He came to give us life abundant. He didn't say, I came to forgive them. Period, end of story. He came to give us life l i f e in all its fullness. And that life is a lot easier to grab ahold of one we're enjoying vibrant health and vitality. Be abundant. Life is a life full of love, joy, peace, meaning and purpose. those qualities are all health promoting. In other words, becoming more whole brings more health and more health makes us more whole. You see there's a synergy between health and wholeness that we should be exploding. So I've blended these two passion areas of mine health and wellness, and pursuing the abundant life into the podcast. So that's why I started the podcast.

David Sandstrom 18:00
The format for the show. I post one episode per week on Monday mornings, I shoot for 45 minute episodes, plus or minus a few minutes. Some episodes I'll be flying solo, and other episodes I bring on guests who are experts in some area connected to health in spirit, mind and body. So there's really a lot to talk about. If this approach to health is resonating with you. I encourage you to follow the podcast or subscribe on whatever platform you're listening on. Go to my website DavidSandstrom.com. That's D-A-V-I-D-S-A-N-D-S-T-R-O-M.com, and subscribe to my newsletter. I'll send you notices when new episodes are published, as well as occasional health tips. It's all free. Down the road, I may create some paid courses to help people go deeper into certain subject areas. But even then, rest assured there's always going to be plenty of useful free information available on this podcast. And at my website, DavidSandstrom.com. The show notes page on my website DavidSandstrom.com has links to any resources that we mentioned on the show, as well as a full transcript with timestamps. With each episode I provide some type of free content upgrade to help you go deeper into that subject. that's available on the show notes page as well. Thanks for checking out the podcast. I hope to serve you with future episodes. Thanks for listening, and I'll talk with you next week. Be blessed