April 23, 2025

DIY Health #1

HI ,

So, I’m saying that health isn’t just about not getting sick. I like to think of it as having the energy and ability to do what I want to do, feeling balanced, strong, and graceful, without feeling too uncomfortable or limited. That works for me. The only thing that medicine really considers is discomfort. Medicine is all about saving your life, no matter what it does to your future happiness. Back in the Civil War, folks relied on opium pills and morphine to treat ailments, and they’d cut off limbs to stop gangrene. Now, that’s not exactly my idea of health, but I’m not against medicine. When you’re in dire straits, medicine can be a lifesaver. Trust me, I was incredibly grateful for the injectable morphine when I had a kidney stone stuck halfway between my kidney and bladder.

Hey, how can I get healthy? I’m glad you asked! The next few issues of this newsletter will be all about this topic. Let’s start with the basics: health vs. disease. At the tiniest level of our bodies, called the cell, is where everything that we call disease starts. Cells are the smallest and most important parts of life. And guess what? There’s only one disease at this level: cellular malfunction. This happens when one of three things goes wrong: we don’t have enough of the right nutrients (including hormones and signaling molecules), our cells get confused (as with viruses,cancer, and autoimmune), or they can’t get rid of toxic waste (including bacteria, fungus, and parasites). That’s it! All the diseases we know about are just names for which cells in which parts of our bodies are malfunctioning because of one of these three things.

This basic understanding of disease helps you grasp most of what natural medicine doctors, like chiropractors, naturopaths, osteopaths, acupuncturists, and herbalists, do. We treat deficiencies with nutrition and herbs, confusion with various corrective techniques, and excess with detoxification. While each of us may have amazing corrective techniques, 90% of health recovery comes from the patient doing the work of improving nutrition and detoxing the body. No doctor can make you healthy if you don’t embrace a lifelong commitment to proper nutrition and eliminating toxic poisons from your body.

The medical profession has taken over the healthcare field because of this truth. Staying healthy is a lot of work, and it’s a lifelong commitment. Modern medicine doesn’t expect patients to take any responsibility for their health beyond taking their medications. I understand. I personally hate maintenance work, and chasing health is mostly about maintaining it. So, if you’re willing to give up the freedom to do what you want to do with balance, strength, grace, and without limitations just to get some level of comfort, then the medical model of health is for you. But if you want more for your life, you’ll have to take on the personal task of DIY health.

I’m here to support you on your self-help journey. I’ll use my intuition, experience, knowledge, and skills to guide you through the process. I can help clear up confusion in your body’s instructions by using techniques in my office. I can also recommend some nutritional support and diets that might be helpful, but you’ll still need to do some trial and error to find what works best for you. I can suggest things to avoid to reduce the toxic load on your system, but the real work is going to be avoiding those things. If they weren’t a part of your current lifestyle, they wouldn’t be a problem for you. Remember, health is a journey of self-discovery and rebuilding yourself from the inside out.

So, let’s talk about digestion. It’s the foundation of good health. You see, the food we eat, the building blocks that make up our cells, doesn’t just get absorbed into our bloodstream. It has to be digested first. And guess what, lots of things mess up our digestion. Now, I know some of you might be thinking, “What about stress?” Well, stress is definitely a factor in recovery, but it’s not the only one. The biggest impact stress has on our bodies is that it messes up our digestion. But here’s the catch: stress doesn’t just affect digestion; it also affects how well our bodies absorb nutrients. So, if we want to stay healthy, we need to focus on eating the right foods and avoiding the ones that poison us. And let me tell you, digestion is crucial for getting the essential building blocks our bodies need to make everything, including the neurotransmitters that help us relax. On the other hand, the flip side of digestion is to avoid putting things into our mouths that are harmful to us. In the past, we used to call these foods “the White Foods.” But recently, a speaker at a seminar I attended referred to them as “white trash.” These foods include white sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, white processed flour products, and white processed fats (think hydrogenated oils like Crisco). These are the real killers. Never eat them! They’re always poisonous to our bodies, no matter how infrequently we eat them.

Let’s talk about three important parts of digestion: stomach acid, pancreatic enzymes, and bile from the liver and gallbladder. Without enough stomach acid, you can’t break down proteins or absorb minerals. Pancreatic enzymes are needed for the second stage of protein digestion. And bile helps you absorb essential fats and fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K. Proteins, fats, and minerals are the building blocks of our bodies. We need them to stay healthy or even survive. 

I can quickly check if these organs are working properly by doing something called Chapman’s reflexes. Just by gently pressing along your rib line and checking for tenderness, I can see if they’re functioning correctly. When these organs have trouble, they can also cause tight spots in the upper back. The gallbladder tightens up right between the shoulder blades, at T4. Sometimes, it can also feel tight around the right shoulder. Stomach pain is a bit lower at T5 and can sometimes radiate to the front rib line. The pancreas is at the bottom of the shoulder blades and can also cause rib pain, but it’s usually on the sides. Oh, and you can also test how much hydrochloric acid your stomach makes by doing a baking soda test first thing in the morning.

                Stomach Acid Test

First thing in the morning before you eat or drink anything, drink ½ cup water with ¼ tsp of baking soda mixed into it.

Count on a clock how many minutes it takes for you to burp.

0 – 2 minutes means too much stomach acid.

2 – 3 minutes is perfect acid levels.

3+ minutes means low stomach acid levels.

If your levels are too low, then you need to take stomach acid support tablets before or during every meal that has protein or minerals in it.

In the next newsletter, I’ll make sure to list the different symptoms associated with dysfunction in each of these organ systems. If you’re ever in the office for a visit, don’t hesitate to ask me to check the reflex points for these three vital organs to kickstart your health journey. In the meantime,

Take care,

David

Ellen

To celebrate Easter Ellen brought out one of her paintings from her days at the School of Light & Color. This was one of her favorite paintings from that time. Despite her attachment, she has decided to offer it for sale at the office for only $500. It will be on display at the office for the next few weeks since it captures the season so nicely.

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"Success is measured by how much you love what you are doing."

~David DeLapp

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~David DeLapp

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"Joy comes from discovering new parts of self and manifesting them as new relationships with life. We are our greatest joy."

~David DeLapp