Lifestyle centers restoring health to many

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WILDWOOD — The aging process takes its toll.

Years of poor eating habits finally catch up with us and eventually our doctors tell us we need to remove this or that food from our diet. We need to exercise more and eat less. And eat the right foods.

Healthy eating choices are learned in community. JOE WESTBURY/Index Guests enjoy a variety of plant-based foods in the Wildwood dining room. Meals are served buffet style. JOE WESTBURY/Index

Our mothers were right. We actually do need to eat our broccoli, and all the other vegetables on our plate. In fact, doctors believe that Americans can eat themselves into poor health and an early death or choose to eat themselves into good health and a long life virtually free of chronic disease.

Government studies reveal that 75% of funds spent on Medicare goes to treat chronic disease … illness largely preventable by making healthy lifestyle choices.

Americans don’t need more guilt; they need more help. And many are finding it in lifestyle centers that address those issues.

Wildwood, in North Georgia just outside of Chattanooga, is one such center that teaches guests how to develop healthy habits that can extend their life while reversing chronic illness such as diabetes and lowering blood pressure and cholesterol through better diet.

As a bonus, in many instances a healthier lifestyle can result in lower insurance costs.

No lifestyle center will guarantee that any guest will emerge fully cured from chronic illnesses. But the real gift is empowerment – knowledge that many of life’s illnesses can be reversed or eliminated by making proper choices on what to eat and how much sleep and exercise are needed.

Wildwood, for example, offers 11- and 25-day sessions. Guests receive all meals tailored to their situation ranging from weight loss to reversing or managing diabetes, hypertension, or other health concerns. An exercise program, including regular walking, is incorporated into the daily schedule.

Doctors monitor progress and are available for extra counseling as needed.

Stress-free sabbatical

But aside from the structured activities such as classes and cooking experiences, perhaps the greatest benefit is living in a stress-free world for nearly two weeks. The break from a daily routine – where old habits can be broken and new habits learned and implemented – is vital to learning a new lifestyle. Time set aside for reflective walks builds spiritual discipline that is hard to come by in most individual’s lives.

One of the most time-freeing experiences is not having access to television. Breaking the cycle of news addiction or bing watching can actually redirect the mind to other options such as hiking or sitting and watching a sunset.

The idea is to take a sabbatical and embrace a new lifestyle that affirms that prevention is actually the most powerful of cures.

Vaughan Sparrow, president of Wildwood, says many Americans have come to believe that taking a pill fulfills their part in their health regime. They see little connection between healthy living that results in a healthy lifestyle, and the realization that changing poor eating habits can actually reverse some diseases.

Prevention is the best cure

Wildwood is among those centers that focus on prevention as much as reversing damage, seeking natural healing before administering medication. It embraces a plant-based lifestyle that has shown, in California studies, to avoid chronic disease and extend life by as much as a decade.

Spring planting of vegetables provide hearty organic meals for guests at the lifestyle center. JOE WESTBURY/Index Spring planting of vegetables provide hearty organic meals for guests at the lifestyle center. JOE WESTBURY/Index

Days begin with morning stretching exercise followed by a walk around the campus and a hearty breakfast. The day is then based around classroom instruction in nutrition, hands-on cooking including making bread and other items, doctors’ visits, digestive walks, hydrotherapy, and free time.

On the first day a medical history is taken and blood work is performed as a baseline. A second round of blood work is performed at the end of the session so results can be compared.

For many the lifestyle changes are clearly evident and they return home equipped with knowledge and discipline to live healthier lives well into their retirement years.

For more information or to schedule a visit, go to wildwoodhealth.org, email info@wildwoodhealth.org, or call toll free (800) 634-9355.

fitness, health, wellness