Elson M. Haas, MD is a medical practitioner with nearly 40 years experience in patient care, always with in an interest in natural medicine. For the past 30 years, he has been instrumental in the development and practice of Integrated Medicine at the Preventive Medical Center of Marin (PMCM), which he founded in 1984 and where he is the Medical Director. Dr Haas has been perfecting a model of healthcare that integrates sophisticated Western diagnostics and Family Medicine with time-honored natural therapies from around the world.
This educating, writing doctor is also the author of many books including Staying Healthy with Nutrition: The Complete Guide to Diet and Nutritional Medicine, 21st Century Edition, The NEW Detox Diet: The Complete Guide for Lifelong Vitality with Recipes, Menus, & Detox Plans and more. His latest book is Staying Healthy with NEW Medicine which integrates Natural, Eastern, and Western Approaches for Optimal Health. Visit his website for more information on his work, books and to sign up for his newsletter.
WRITING ABOUT THE SEASONS AND THEIR AFFECTS ON OUR personal health has been part of my medical message for most all of my 40 years of practice. Connecting to Nature and our own true nature is a key to good health, learning and evolving as we become more self aware and also sensitive to all life on this planet, and our future. Eating from the Earth's bounty with simple foods from our gardens, farms and farmer's markets, and our local stores is principle number one of nutrition. A quote...
Generally, the best way to insure a safe and healthy diet is to eat meals that are prepared in your own home. However, many of us are eating away from home more than ever before. One of the keys to healthy eating is to plan your meals and snacks before you get hungry. Bring your own good quality food to work or school so that you have what you need when you need it. If you can’t make your own meals and snacks, find out where to go to get good, healthy food in your neighborhood and near...
Water is important year round, and especially during the hotter, drier months of summer. And if we're staying fit with exercise and sweating, we need to maintain our hydration. When we eat more water content foods, as with fruits and vegetables also containing minerals, this keeps us better hydrated. Let's review the keys to healthy water balance.
1. Proper hydration with water is essential. Most of us need at least six to eight 8-ounce glasses of good, clean...
What is called “Preventive Medicine” in America in the 21st Century is really more appropriately termed early intervention and early diagnosis. Having immunization injections or taking tests such as x-rays and mammograms, prostate exams, and blood tests are not really preventive in nature. Rather, they are an attempt to detect diseases in an early state. What is promoted as cancer prevention with the use of mammograms or prostate exams, sigmoidoscopes or colonoscopes is really early...
The Purification Process: Healing for Modern Times
This is an article about thinking simply, in a new way, and using commonsense in your choices about your health. A choice I often recommend is cleaning up your act, your relationships, your home and planet, and supporting you to lighten up and heal. I encourage all of you to think about health and health care from the philosophy of Integrated Medicine.
As a doctor, I view any problem from the deeper true...
Take a few minutes to identify the habits you wish to change. Do you pack a wholesome lunch, only to be distracted by fast or junk food places around your work? Do you provide healthy lunches for your kids, but at the end of the day find them smashed in the bottom of their backpack? It is important to be realistic about yourself and your family’s likes and dislikes. It is unlikely that anyone can switch from hamburgers and French fries to tofu and whole grains in one day. Prepare...
Hypertension, or High Blood Pressure (HBP), is a common disease in modern cultures, more common in men than women, and in African Americans over Caucasians. Hypertension means “too much tension,” and of course, stress plays a role in HBP which, when untreated, can cause many other problems in the cardiovascular systems as well as in the kidneys and brain. It is also called the “silent killer” because typically people are not aware they have high blood pressure unless...
I know that it is often difficult to improve our habits for the benefit of others; this life-enhancing process needs to be something we do for ourselves. However, if anyone can make positive changes, it is parents for the sake of their children. Improving your children’s health and helping them start with good habits begins with you. Here are my top-ten guidelines for parents who want to teach their children good nutritional habits.
Our digestive track is at the core of our health. This of course begins with a good balanced diet and healthy eating habits, which are reviewed below. It can be very simple. Best of health to you.
1. Eat in a relaxed way in a pleasant setting, and take your time. CHEW your food well until it is liquid. If you are under emotional pressure or in a hurry, take simple food, such as fresh juices, fruit, yogurt, some sunflower seeds, or a healthy protein bar.
Assess your health, your strengths, as well as your problems and bad habits, and look for (ask yourself and take time to listen) the causes or basis of each concern. What are your issues? It’s best to ask for this deeper information and healing in your quiet, meditative place or before sleep to ask your dream imagery to come forth. (Review my Staying Healthy Tips on The Nature of Healing.) This is a time to work on solutions.
Make a list of your...
When I first began looking at the relationship of Nutrition to Health, I was a new doctor way back in 1975. At that time I could find very few medical doctors who would agree with my ideas and interests. Now, 30 years later, you would have to be in blind denial not to know the importance of this basic relationship. Our body, and how we look and feel, is a result of our lives. And what we feed ourselves is the basic building block. Mind you, it may take 20 to 30 years to see the adverse...
