Welcome to the Allergy Belt

“Are you sick?” 

“Oh, not really. It’s just these allergies.” 

Did you know that there is a simple, homeopathic method to possibly alleviate some of your allergy symptoms if you are a person who is overly bothered by the pollen? Honey. But not just any honey. It needs to be local. And it matters when it was harvested. Before going any further with this possible remedy for your symptoms, it is important that we do a little thinking about this. We are all breathing the same air around here. Some people are bothered by the pollen and some are not as much. People who are reacting to the pollen in the air do not have a honey deficit or a medicine deficit. Their body is just overreacting to pollen and treating it like it were a germ. The good news is that there are lots of treatments out there to help your body learn to recognize pollen better and not get thrown off so badly that you are wiped out with “allergies.” Chiropractic, acupuncture, probiotics, and other techniques can help your body recognize the difference between pollen and germs over the long term. 

But in the meantime, or if your reactions to pollen remain severe, you may want to try taking some local honey, since it is made with pollen, and introducing it to our bodies does help to alleviate allergies in a lot of people. The key is to be able to find out exactly when the honey was harvested. You want to take honey that was made with the same pollen you are affected by. So if you experience pollen allergy symptoms most severely in March and April, you would want to consume honey that was harvested around May of the previous year, and you would want to begin taking it before the onset of symptoms, maybe around February. So get to know your local honey seller so you can find out exactly when and where the honey was harvested. We love the folks over at Polk’s if you want to give them a try! 

And of course, if you’re not working on getting healthier in general, your body is going to have more reactions to more stressors, so it’s a good idea to begin getting chiropractic care for your general health. You’d be surprised how much less the pollen will bother you when your immune system is working optimally! Why not set up a wellness evaluation with us so we can get you on the road to optimal health this week?

I’m Not Lovin It 

by Will Forrester


I had been coming to see Dr. Ranicki for at least several weeks before my eyes happened to glance over at the shelf across from the reception area. I had to do a little double take when I realized there was a real McDonald’s hamburger and fries sitting OUT. On a plate. Most people don’t leave uneaten food displayed as a decoration on a shelf in a reception area. Then I noticed the sign. 

Dr. Ranicki saw me staring at the hamburger. I couldn’t help but gawk. I mean, it was a little dry, but it looked EXACTLY like what I had ordered so many times in my life. All somebody needed to do was say a blessing and we could eat. Okay, full disclosure, I generally ordered the Quarter Pounder or the Big Mac, but you get the idea. This food had not changed. And at the time it was well over a year. 

That’s when I noticed Dr. Ranicki standing beside me. I think I said, “Is this for real? I can’t believe it!” I’ll never forget his words. “Yeah, you know we don’t have a bug problem down here. Bugs will not eat this. And mold will not eat it. But you will.” 

If I’m not mistaken a flurry of thoughts began to crowd my mind, the first one being, how is it that bugs and mold have more sense about their diet than humans do? Don’t we believe in progress or evolution or survival of the fittest or something? How could my species have sunk so low? Surely we have not become dumber than bugs and mold! 

If you don’t believe it, try the experiment for yourself. You can probably pick most any food chain in America. Even better, as a control sample use some organic beef to make your own hamburger and make some homemade bread without preservatives. I imagine within a week or two you won’t be able to walk in the room. Because real food is supposed to decompose. Real food is attractive to bugs and mold and such. 

Which leads to the major question. If what we are eating is not decomposing, is it really food? And if it’s not food, then what exactly are we eating?

Sick Care vs. Stay Well
Will Forrester

This time of year used to wreak havoc on my sinuses.  Allergy season.  I would start getting that headache and get that tickly feeling in my throat, and I wouldn’t waste any time.  I would head right over to my local pharmacy or grocery store and hit the section just like this display below.  

And if you’re like me, you’ve tried some or all of these medicines.  They all make miraculous claims, and some do seem to help with symptoms for a while.  And they also tend to make competing promises on how much or little they will affect you “on the side.”  People even intentionally take these medicines to help them stay awake or go to sleep, because that is how they function.  

But a funny thing has happened to me since I started receiving chiropractic care and implementing some of the health and wellness suggestions from Dr. Ranicki.  I don’t take these medicines anymore.  

It’s not like I ever decided to stop taking sinus medicines, decongestants, antihistamines and the like.  I just don’t need them anymore.  I still live in the same house.  I still breathe the same air.  Yes, cutting the grass still makes me sneezy for a day, but it doesn’t turn into a sinus infection anymore.  

I used to buy huge quantities of these medicines, and I went through them like candy.  The other day I decided to clean out my medicine drawer and I realized that every bit of my medicine had now expired.  Somehow, I don’t think I’ll have to replace them.  


What makes me sick today isn’t allergies, thanks to chiropractic care.  What makes me sick is the advertisement at the top of that display pictured above.  It says, “Stay well.”  

Stay well.  Really?  Am I supposed to believe that if I’m well and want to stay that way through “allergy season,” I need to purchase and begin taking medicines, which are proven to cause other health problems when taken over long periods of time?  Are we really to believe that people who look and seem to be as happy and healthy as this couple pictured here are happy and healthy because they take allergy medicines?

Of course we know this is all just marketing, but marketing is powerful.  We call the medical and pharmaceutical industry “health care,” when in fact it is and should be called “sick care.”  

I definitely did not look for a chiropractor because I had sinus problems or allergy problems.  But I know the truth.  I used to spend a lot of money on Sudafed and the like, and now I can spend that money on things that actually keep me healthy and happy… things that help me to STAY WELL.   

It seems that when you’re actually well, you don’t need quite so much medicine.  Stop by Ranicki Chiropractic and Wellness to learn how you can get well and even stay well or visit their website.   Even through allergy season.  

The other day I was shopping for groceries when I overheard a pretty fascinating moment between a father and a daughter.  She was begging him to get a particular food item for her, and he said to her, “If you can read those three words then, you can get it, but if not, you can’t have it.”  The girl was elementary school age and was obviously struggling with her reading, but she immediately began trying to sound out the words.  It was great seeing a dad using this moment to encourage his daughter in her development as a person, learning to read.  But then I glanced down at what she was trying to read: “Brown.  Sugar.  Cinnamon.”  Those were the three words, and they were the flavor of a type of Pop Tarts she wanted.  

Don’t get me wrong.  I totally admire a father spending quality time with his daughter, using a “teachable moment” to encourage her to read.  We all know the importance of reading for success and happiness in life, and we would rightfully be angry at parents or teachers who did not care that all children were encouraged in the strongest way to learn how to read.  

We know that reading is something that must be taught.  We know most kids will not pick it up on their own.  A caring adult must spend lots of time with them over years in order for their brain to develop and grasp the necessary concepts.  But I was also devastated by this father’s actions in that moment.  I couldn’t help but notice that his daughter was also borderline obese.  While obviously a number of factors contribute to obesity, it was so troubling to see that the “reward” for the good behavior of trying to read in that moment was Pop Tarts.  

I wonder if this father, who obviously loves his daughter tremendously, is even aware that he is teaching her to cause harm to her body and setting her up for a lifetime of medical problems?  Is he aware that the company which makes products like Pop Tarts, which have been known to advertise to children (and their parents) that they are “made with real fruit” are now being sued for contributing to Type 2 Diabetes in young people?  

In our nation today, we ought to consider it unacceptable for children anywhere, barring certain understandable learning disabilities, to reach the third grade without basic reading skills.  But equally as essential to success, happiness, and health in this life is learning the skill of knowing what foods to eat and which to avoid.  And this is also something that must be taught, particularly in a culture that is veering in quite the opposite direction.  

Please stop by Ranicki Chiropractic Wellness or click here for our Wellness Page, if you are struggling with obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, or have questions about how to learn the basics of a healthier lifestyle.  Many of us learned to read, but so many of us were never shown how to eat healthily.   We can help change that.
http://www.ranickichiropractic.com/