by Associate Clinician Felicia Pasquale
In today’s world, many people are seeking holistic options to improve their health. These alternative methods are typically not covered by any type of insurance. Some people simply rationalize that if their medical insurance doesn’t cover natural modalities, they can’t do it. Well, why not? Just because your insurance doesn’t cover services like nutritional visits and other natural modalities doesn’t mean there isn’t value in those services and that you can’t budget it into your life. If you could feel better and be healthier, spending the money would be worth it and also add value to you and your health.
Even when using insurance for a visit to the doctor or a medical procedure, you will most likely pay some of the cost out of your pocket. With the changes in healthcare in recent years, people are paying more than ever out of their pocket with higher deductibles and copays. If you are paying money out of your pocket anyway, as long as there is value in what you are doing, the cost is worth the service you are receiving – especially if you would like to choose the type of services you receive, natural or traditional. Let’s rethink the mindset that says, “Insurance doesn’t cover the visits so I am not going to try it, even though I think it could really work and that’s the type of care I would prefer.”
Some people don’t care what they spend to get well, whether it be through a medical doctor or a holistic practitioner. I had one client that spent a lot of money over a 3 month period with the medical doctor, didn’t get any results, and then came to the Well of Life Center. He spent money here as well. However, he totally got his life back! He can now play with his grandchildren and live with quality of life. Note: there is a difference between living life and just going through the motions, and living with quality of life.
Realistically, we all don’t have a million dollars to spend on healthcare of any kind, whether it is through traditional medicine or taking the natural, holistic route. That’s why, at the Well of Life Center, we do our best to help meet your nutritional goals without breaking the bank. There are many different strategies that we use to help save you money and allow you to get the most for your money.
One of the first concerns new clients often have is about their grocery bill when trying to buy healthier foods. While buying organic is best, you don’t have to buy everything organic. Use Environmental Working Group’s website as a guide to determine which fruits and vegetables are in the dirty dozen, meaning you should always buy organic, and which are in the clean fifteen, meaning they are generally safe to buy not organic. This website provides a wealth of information regarding not only fruits and vegetables; it also rates personal care products as to how safe they are and what harmful chemicals they may contain. This information is under the Skin Deep section of the EWG.org website.
It is very important to buy top quality meats. When buying beef, make sure it says grass fed and organic on the label. Chicken and eggs should be pastured and organic. Fish should be wild caught as opposed to farm raised. As you transition into buying healthier foods, you will stop buying boxed, bagged, and processed foods, which are expensive! What you will find most times is that the cost evens itself out. Even if you are paying a little more, you definitely want to be putting quality food into your body; otherwise you will pay for it later! You will pay for it with how you feel and how much you are paying to take care of your health with medications or supplements.
Make sure you check out local farms in your area. Not only will you be supporting local farmers, but also you will be getting quality foods, like meats, eggs, raw milk and cheese, and produce. Always check with the farmer to make sure their produce is organic and their beef is grass fed. Eggs and chicken should be pastured. Sometimes farms can be less expensive than the grocery store. But again, you must consider the cost to value ratio. Are you getting the value you desire for the cost? Are you willing to spend the extra money to protect your health? You will save money by eating quality food.
Your diet is a big factor in your healing, as well as nutritional supplements. In most instances, diet alone is not enough to correct dysfunction in the body. Nutritional supplements are necessary to remove pathogens and toxins from the body as well as encourage organs to heal and operate optimally. This is what ultimately gets rid of symptoms: properly functioning organs working together to optimize healing in your body.
Supplements are an expense for the client. We try to help with that in any way we can! We encourage our clients to make a list of what specific supplements they have at home and how many of each. That way we can potentially get them off of supplements that are running low. Sometimes clients will absolutely need a supplement in order to continue healing. In that case, they would need to repurchase the supplement.
Clients will often share their supply of extra supplements with other clients. These clients are typically family members, neighbors and even people that work together or go to church together. Each family makes a list of the supplements they have and how many and then gives a copy to each person in the sharing group. Of course, the supplement that is borrowed or swapped must be something that the client currently has on their protocol. We do not recommend just taking any supplement just because you feel you need it. A clinician needs to put you on a specific supplement in order for you to take it.
At the Well of Life Center we do have a program for each individual client. The goal is to bring the body back to its optimal state of health, where it can be self-healing and self-regulating. This is absolutely possible! We have seen many people with severe health problems that have dramatic improvement and ultimately get their life back, not just any life, but life of quality.
Felicia Pasquale, NTP
Felicia Pasquale is an Associate Clinician at the Well of Life Center for Natural Health. The Well of Life Center is a holistic wellness center that specializes in nutrition, chiropractic, massage services, and more. Celebrating their 10th year in business, the Well of Life Center has locations in Doylestown, Bethlehem, and Ottsville, PA. For more information, please visit welloflifecenter.com.