Preventive 10®

Our primary goal at Wiseman Family Practice is to provide health education in order to prevent disease. We believe the core problem with many of today’s health issues lies in poor nutrition, stress, and toxins the body accumulates from unhealthy food, water, and the environment. We seek to address these problems so the body can function and heal optimally.

Below are some effective, natural strategies that will allow you to better manage your health:

1. Food

  • Change your philosophy on food and the food system – Read The Food Revolution by John Robbins and watch the documentary Hungry for Change on Netflix.
  • Avoid all processed foods and focus on eating whole foods
  • “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants” – Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto
    • We highly recommend the Mediterranean Diet, which is a well-rounded, mostly plant-based diet that incorporates fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, fish, poultry, eggs, and beans and a more moderate or limited intake of dairy and red meat. Learn more here
    • Learn more about the optimal human diet here
  • Decrease sugar consumption to under 30 grams a day. Read WFP’s advice here: “What’s the Healthiest Sweetener?”
  • Eliminate all sugar and sugar-free sodas. Learn about the dangers of drinking soda here
  • Decrease or eliminate dairy products. If you are consuming dairy products (e.g., milk, yogurt, cheese, butter), consume them in their natural, purest state to avoid overly processed dairy. Examples of natural dairy products in their purest state include: raw milk or low-temperature pasteurized milk, yogurt made with milk from grass-fed cows, raw milk cheese.
  • Decrease or eliminate grains and gluten, especially wheat products. Read Grain Brain by Dr. David Perlmutter
    • Grains include: wheat, rice, oats, barley, rye, and other cereal grains
    • When consuming grains, eat only whole grains
    • Avoid all refined or processed grain products: white flour, bleached white rice, white pasta, and white bread
  • Eat foods that contain good fats (e.g., avocados, almonds, walnuts, wild-caught salmon, grass-fed beef, pasture-raised pork, organic whole milk, pasture-raised chicken eggs, grass-fed butter, coconut oil). Avoid the foods that contain bad fats, or trans fats (e.g., fried foods, French fries, doughnuts, pies, cookies, chips, crackers). Learn more about the health benefits of saturated fat here
  • Eat organic fruits & vegetables. If you are unable to eat organic, see the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 for the fruits and vegetables that are the most and least contaminated with pesticides.
  • Try a smartphone health app that allows you to scan barcodes of food products to find detailed information about the ingredients in the products and their safety ratings. For food (and personal care products), download the Environmental Work Group’s Healthy Living app or the app Yuka.
  • Consume more naturally fermented foods, such as kimchi (pickled vegetables), sauerkraut, yogurt, and fermented pickles, to get nature’s probiotics.
  • Read about the health benefits of juicing here. When juicing, aim for 80% vegetables and 20% fruit or even better, 90% vegetables and 10% fruit. Sugar can add up quickly due to the natural sugar found in fruits, so it’s best to use the 80/20 or 90/10 split.
  • When consuming coffee, use the best ingredients possible. Coffee is almost 99% water, so optimal water quality is essential when making coffee. Brew coffee using filtered water or spring water and unbleached coffee filters, if you brew with paper filters. Use organic coffee beans when possible because conventional coffee beans (grown without organic methods and in underregulated countries) are often saturated with toxic chemicals like pesticides. Organic coffee beans are in their most pure, natural state without the added chemicals.
  • Keurig Single Serve Coffees are problematic and should be avoided because: the single-use pods are made of plastic and aluminum — chemicals that can leach into your coffee when the pod is heated; the pods cannot consistently be broken down and recycled, which creates unnecessary waste in the environment; flavored coffee pods may contain artificial additives and colors; it can also be difficult to properly clean the internal water components where mold, mildew, and biofilm often form. 
  • Traditional decaffeinated coffee uses a chemical process to strip caffeine from the coffee beans. If you prefer decaffeinated coffee, use a healthier decaffeinated coffee that uses the Swiss Water Method—a process that uses pure water and no chemicals to remove caffeine from coffee beans.
  • Learn about the health benefits of butter coffee and how to make it, here
  • Add anti-inflammatory herbs, spices, and foods to your diet. Read WFP’s advice here
  • Consume only “clean” meat and other animal products e.g.: grass-fed beef, pasture-raised chicken, pastured pork, pasture-raised chicken eggs, grass-fed butter, wild fish, and wild game. Avoid factory-farmed beef, chicken, and pork; conventional “white eggs;” and farm-raised fish.
  • Shop more at local farmers markets. Find one near you here
  • Use safe cookware when cooking and avoid Teflon or other non-stick products. Ceramic products, such as Xtrema Pure Ceramic Cookware, are the most ideal. Read about 5 great products here

2. Water

  • Drink 16 ounces of purified water first thing in the morning and continue to stay hydrated throughout the day. The daily recommended amount of water for men is roughly 100–135 ounces (3–4 liters) and for women 67–91 ounces (2–2.7 liters).
  • Avoid drinking unfiltered tap water. Filter (purify) your tap water in your home. This is a much cheaper, safer, and more environmentally sustainable approach than purchasing bottled water. When drinking bottled water, try to choose pure, natural spring water from sources such as The Mountain Valley, Evian, Fiji, and Ozarka.
    • Best water filter system to use (more expensive) — Install in your home a multi-staged carbon/reverse osmosis (RO) system.
      • Watch our WFP video on an RO system here
    • Next best water filter system to use (cheaper and more convenient) — Purchase a portable Berkey Filter w/ fluoride filters. We recommend the Berkey water filter in place of using refrigerator water filters, as they don’t always provide the necessary filtration for your drinking water. Read more about the Berkey water filter and order here
      • Watch our WFP video on the Berkey water filter here
  • Use a shower head filter to purify your bathing water.
  • Read “The Truth About Tap Water” by Wiseman Family Practice here
    • Watch our WFP video on the fluoridation of public water and its potential health effects here
  • Use Cold Water Therapy to improve your health. Learn more here.

 

3. Skin

4. Dental

  • Talk to your dentist about replacing all metal dental fillings or amalgams with safer alternatives
  • Always use a toothbrush with soft or medium bristles for a better and safer cleaning
  • Brush at least twice daily and floss once daily for optimal dental health
  • Discuss with your dentist the principles of holistic dentistry, also known as biological dentistry. Learn more about holistic dentistry here

5. Sleep

  • Improve sleep hygiene. Read “12 Tips for Better Sleep” here
  • Use these smartphone apps to help improve sleep: Calm and Headspace.
  • Most adults need to get 7-9 hours of quality sleep at night
  • Recommended bedding: Use safe bedding, as we sleep 1/3 of our lives. Replacing your mattress with an all-organic mattress is ideal, but at the very least use all natural, organic pillows, sheets, and comforters. Great mattress/bedding selections can be found at Naturepedic, Austin Natural Mattress, Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Amerisleep, Casper, and Wildflower
  • Learn more about natural, non-toxic mattresses and bedding with our WFP YouTube video and also tips for choosing a natural mattress and bedding here.
  • Try a medium to firm mattress for better support and to help evenly distribute weight while sleeping.
  • Learn how natural conditions affect the sleep patterns of modern-day hunter-gatherers. Read here
  • For a great book on sleep, read the most up-to-date information on how and why we sleep in Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker

6. Exercise

  • Increase exercise and activity. Try to exercise at a minimum 3–4 times weekly.
  • Along with aerobic exercise, incorporate high intensity interval training (HIIT). Read 8 benefits of HIIT here
  • Incorporate core training into exercise routine: Pilates, Yoga, or Tai Chi. Learn about the health benefits of Tai Chi here
  • Being consistently active throughout the day is as important as regular exercise. Aim for 5,000 to 10,000 steps a day. Use an Apple Watch, Health/Google Fit app on your smartphone, or a Fitbit to track your fitness activity daily.
  • See why prolonged sitting is so harmful, why our bodies need dynamic movement, and why using a standing desk is an important alternative to sitting for long periods of time. Read here
  • Walk barefoot at home or when outside, when possible, to help strengthen the muscles and ligaments in your feet, which in turn helps your natural gait or stride.
  • Try a minimalist approach to footwear for daily activities or when running. A minimalist shoe doesn’t have a heel lift, allows enough flexibility in the sole for toes to bend naturally, minimal sole and arch support, and has a wide toe box to ensure feet spread naturally. Try balanced, minimal barefoot shoes such as those from Xero Shoes, Vivo Barefoot, Softstar shoes, Feelgrounds, and the Merrell Vapor Glove.
  • Make a gradual change to minimalist shoes to avoid injury. To learn how barefoot running or near-barefoot running facilitates a more natural stride than running with traditional running shoes, watch this Youtube video.
  • Read Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. This book explores our human ancestors and their history of running, the science of running barefoot or with minimalist shoes and also conventional running shoes, and the history and traditions of the Tarahumara people of Chihuahua, Mexico, renowned for their long-distance running in minimalist footwear/sandals called huaraches. The book also explores how the Tarahumara’s near-barefoot running with its mid-foot strike pattern can help decrease injuries and increase speed. Learn more here.
  • For shoes made of natural materials that allow for grounding/earthing conductivity, try Softstar shoes
  • If you are looking for ways to incorporate a more mindful experience into your exercise routine, read these helpful tips here

7. Weight

  • Maintain ideal body weight, preferably a BMI between 18.5–25. Calculate yours here
  • Incorporate intermittent fasting into your weekly routine for weight loss and better health. Learn more about intermittent fasting here
    • There are many approaches to intermittent fasting. The following is an introductory approach: One to two days a week, restrict calorie intake to an 8-hour window, eating between 11:00 am to 7:00 pm or 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm, thus fasting for 16 hours.
  • To learn the benefits of fasting, read The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting by Dr. Fung

8. Sunlight

  • Read “11 Tips for Sunlight, Sunscreen, & Vitamin D” by Wiseman Family Practice here
  • Get 10–15 minutes of sunlight without sunblock 3 – 5 times weekly. When you are getting sun exposure for these 10–15 minutes, you want to avoid putting sunblock on for this short period of time to help facilitate the production of vitamin D in your body.
  • Avoid all spray tan products
  • Don’t burn
  • Avoid toxic sunscreens—use safer more natural sunblock alternatives. Read here
  • Beat the winter blues with sunlight. Read more here
  • Use incandescent bulbs inside your home, especially at night. Incandescent bulbs provide a more natural spectrum of light than LEDs.

9. Stress

  • Learn about the value and health benefits of daily meditation here
  • Learn how to meditate through guided meditation with these smartphone apps: Waking Up, Calm, and Headspace.
  • Learn how minimalist living benefits your health and happiness here
  • Follow these strategies to lower EMF (electromagnetic field) exposure and to reduce stress from electropollution:
    • At night or when sleeping, put your cell phone in airplane mode (alarm mode will still work when the phone is in airplane mode).
    • Try to keep your cell phone away from your body as much as possible. Avoid carrying your cell phone on you (in a pocket or your bra) unless the device is placed in airplane mode. When talking on your cell phone, use speaker mode.
    • Try to decrease your use of wireless ear buds in order to avoid EMF; use speaker mode or wired ear buds instead.
    • When working on your laptop, keep it off your lap, as this area of the human body is highly susceptible to EMF radiation.
    • Use an EMF blanket, such as those by Belly Armor, when pregnant, when using a laptop, or even as a baby blanket to help create a barrier between the body and everyday electronic devices that emit electromagnetic radiation.
    • Try to keep electronic equipment out of the bedroom, especially during sleep time.
    • Wireless internet emits EMF radiation through the wireless internet router and the electronic devices connected to it. Unplug your Wi-Fi at night to reduce the amount of daily EMF radiation you are exposed to.
    • For more in-depth information on the subject of EMF risk, read this article.
  • Learn more about the healthy approach to smartphone use here
  • Share a healthy approach to smartphone use with young family members: The Pinwheel Phone is designed for children, beginning at age 8 and on, and teaches them about responsible use of a smartphone (tools versus entertainment). Pinwheel allows you to add various functionalities of the phone as your child grows and becomes more independent. Learn more about the Pinwheel Phone here
  • Learn how cultivating gratitude can decrease stress and improve your health. Read here
  • Approach stress with a different perspective. Watch the following TED Talk: “How to Make Stress Your Friend”
  • For stress management and disease prevention, practice earthing.
  • To help bring the body back into a relaxed and calm state, try breath work, including this form the 4-7-8 breathing technique.
  • Read Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. This book explores why humans have lost the ability to breathe properly, the health effects that occur from inefficient or improper breathing, and proper breathing techniques to improve overall health. Learn more here
  • Spending time in parks and outdoor recreation areas can help reduce stress and improve your overall health and well-being. To find a local park near you, visit Texas Parks and Wildlife.

10. Air

  • Tips for improving indoor air quality and why it is so important. Read here
  • Avoid breathing cigarette smoke and all other forms of smoke
  • Use a high-quality air purifier from Austin Air Systems
  • Use plants to remove indoor toxins. For additional health benefits of indoor plants, read more here
    • Recommended: 1 plant per 100 square feet
  • Use all-natural, organic, therapeutic essentials oils to calm the mind and body with an ultrasonic aroma diffuser or dry aroma diffuser found here
  • When pumping gas, stand away from the car while pumping
  • Be mindful of the outdoor air quality and air pollution where you live. Limit outdoor activities when the air quality poses health risks. Most weather apps share the daily air quality index, or AQI, (e.g., good, moderate, or unhealthy) and will provide alerts about air quality. Certain mobile apps, such as Breezometer, help you specifically track outdoor air quality and air pollution.