Health is a Choice
Saving Bees in Our Community
We need our bees. They pollinate our food and help our flowers flourish. It may be surprising to learn that one out of every three mouthfuls of food in the American diet is a product of honeybee pollination—from fruit to nuts to coffee beans.1 However, bees are disappearing at alarming Read more…
What happens when you take rescued Horses
What happens when you take rescued horses – some who have been abused, starved or neglected – and pair them with veterans struggling to deal with deep wounds from their past? A miraculous program that participants call both life changing, and lifesaving. Like people, horses can have strong personalities. However, Read more…
Health Matters Initiative Achievements
Five years ago, the Coachella Valley received an incredible gift. We were chosen to be the model region for changing health behaviors in our community. The grand task would take many organizations working together for the greater good and the work of countless individuals making significant efforts – large and Read more…
Healthy Resource for Transitional Aged Youth
The time in your life between childhood and adulthood can be very challenging. Everyone expects you to be a grown up, but you may have no idea how to do that. Many young people in this age group also struggle with additional barriers including family dynamics, self-esteem, mental illness, even homelessness. Read more…
Ali Schaeffer: A Story of Courage and Determine
Since 2014, from time to time, while biking out to the high school track or out on the trail with my high school cross country team, I would catch glimpses of a willowy, 30-something runner with long blonde hair and an observable limp. Over time, I noticed that the hitch Read more…
I am a lung cancer survivor
In 1986, I was diagnosed with stage 4 adenocarcinoma, non-small cell lung cancer. My medical treatment included removal of my lower left lobe followed by 35 radiation treatments. My road to recovery was long and difficult. At the time, there was little information out there for patients like me – Read more…
Oh, What a Night! 2017 Wellness Awards
The third annual Desert Health® Wellness Awards once again united the valley’s doctors, health practitioners and health enthusiasts in an evening of celebration, education and recognition. The sellout event began with an outdoor reception and dinner followed by guest speaker Joseph Scherger, MD, vice president of primary care for Eisenhower Read more…
Would you like butter with your coffee?
It may be a little hard to swallow, but this latest trend is receiving praise from not only butter lovers, but the integrative health and fitness communities as well. The concept is simple. Most of us should start our day with a heavy dose of fats versus carb-heavy cereal, toast Read more…
Time for a Seasonal Time Out
Here we are, in the peak of our local high season. We welcome the influx of snowbirds from the cooler climates and recognize that all the Coachella Valley has to offer is in full flight! As a health and wellness professional, I see many people with commitments to activities, fundraisers, Read more…
Let’s live this New Year full of gratitude
– gratitude for our family, our friends, our community and for those in our life who make each and every day a little better. Are you grateful for someone who inspires you towards good health and wellness? If so, we would like to help you honor them with the Desert Read more…
Pain is killing us in large numbers.
Drug overdose is now the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S., with 47,055 lethal drug overdoses in 2014. Opioid addiction is driving this epidemic, with 18,893 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers, and 10,574 overdose deaths related to heroin in 2014. In 2012, 259 million prescriptions were Read more…
When it comes to health, there is strength in numbers
Whether it’s a workout buddy, Zumba class, or a Spartan team, working towards wellness alongside others creates a sense of accountability, motivation and fun. So why is it that the place many spend most of their day with the largest group of people–the workplace–is often the least healthy? From hours Read more…
The Grain-free Wannabe Athlete
I have been grain free for the last 2+ years and love the physical benefits I continue to see and feel. I’ve made it through the cravings stage and while I do admit to a gluten-free wrap or crackers every once in a while, living primarily grain-free is a lifestyle Read more…
Why practice integrative health care?
This was the topic of a recent panel hosted by Women Leaders Forum (WLF) and moderated by Desert Health® publisher Lauren Del Sarto. The panel featured a medical doctor, chiropractor, acupuncturist/herbologist and naturopathic doctor discussing how conventional and complementary modalities are working together for whole person care. So why the Read more…
Convenience is Key
Green smoothies are addictive especially when you make them at home where you can tweak the flavors and health benefits to your liking. Adding pineapple provides bromelain for achy muscles, cinnamon cuts the taste of heavy greens and helps stabilize blood sugars, avocado creates a smooth texture while providing healthy Read more…
Surviving Cancer Against the Odds
Why do some people survive cancer against all odds when others do not? That question sent Kelly Turner back to school to get her Ph.D. As a cancer patient counselor, Turner was searching for answers in an effort to help her clients and was angered at the fact that no one Read more…
Learning to Trust the Trail
This summer did not go well. In July, I lost my mother to a brutal disease, and thus inherited her responsibilities: keeping her home, caring for my father, and the minutia of wrapping up her “paper existence.” At the same time, my own family expanded. Our grandson moved in for Read more…
Recharging Your Batteries
What did you do this summer to recharge your batteries? Hopefully you got away from the heat, spent time with friends and family, and simply checked out for a while. No matter how full your plate may seem, taking time away from the everyday is an important choice for good Read more…
Health is a Choice: Doctors Have the Ability to Heal
Doctors have the ability to heal. Unfortunately, the current health care system has turned many away from their natural ability to do so. But things are changing. A core aspect of integrative medicine is whole person care by doctors who take the time to listen and understand their patients, and Read more…
Alternative Therapies for Lyme Disease
Lyme disease is on the rise. Once prevalent only in the northeast, the infectious disease has now been reported in every state in the US, and throughout the world. In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported 30,000 cases annually, only to revise that statistic to 300,000 in 2013.1 Read more…
