Everybody gets sick from time to time. A cough here or a sneeze there will send most people on a trip to the doctor's office. For some, however, the best remedies aren't in a doctor's poorly scratched prescription.
Alternative medicine is the answer for some people who choose to seek treatment outside traditional medicine.
Jon Lenik, a political science and pre-law freshman, said he is a big believer in a healthy diet combined with exercise. Once a cross-country runner at Hartland High School in Howell, he now is training to walk onto MSU's track and field team and said using supplements to keep healthy is key.
"I try to go to the doctor as little as possible," he said. "I try to stay away from cold medicines when I get sick. I'll take vitamin C, zinc, echinacea and garlic.
"If every time you get sick and go to the doctor, you become immune to the drugs and they won't do anything."
Lenik also drinks ginger, peppermint and green teas during his training.
"I drank green tea every day because it has antioxidants in it," he said. "If you drink it before you work out, you start burning fat faster."
Lenik isn't alone in his quest for alternative health. There are many places in the Lansing area where people can explore different ways to steer clear of sickness.
Deborah Wilcox Jamieson is the owner of Health & Life Dynamics, 2720 Pleasant Grove Road, in Lansing. Wilcox Jamieson, a clinical nutritionist and certified hypnotherapist, said she doesn't just take the symptoms into consideration when she treats a patient, but instead the entire body and mind.
"The general application is to encompass a patient's whole body, meaning
physical, emotional and spiritual," she said. "And then to look at lab tests, detailed health systems and a history of the patient."
Jamieson said the more popular methods her patients use are acupuncture, nutritional supplements and osteopathic manipulative therapy, which are adjustments of the muscle-skeletal areas of the body.
"We are assisting (patients) to promote an overall body chemistry balance, and a big part of that is addressing their nutritional state," she said. "(Patients) feel like they are in more control and involved more with getting healthier."
Digestive enzymes, antioxidants and body-purifying herbs have become the popular supplements people use, Jamieson said.
"Digestive enzymes enhance food breakdown so we get more nutrition out of that food," she said.
"Antioxidants are considered what is part of preventing cancer, heart disease and aging. People are now more open to purification programs, which are nutritional changes like herbs to detoxify the body."
Jamieson also practices what she teaches, by integrating exercise and other various methods of alternative medicine for her health.
"I try to really take time for exercise because I find it helps me emotionally and with my immune system," she said. "I take whole food supplements, which are nutrients in a capsule or powder form instead of the artificial lab vitamins."
She added that she receives acupuncture once a week to balance her system, which she said provides good energy and improves her circulation.
People also turn to specific vitamins as a source of wellness, said Heather Tryon, manager of General Nutrition Center, 217 E. Grand River Ave.
She said multivitamins, formulated specifically for men and women and antioxidant formulas of vitamins and herbs are the most common requests at their store.
"We have a plethora of all kinds of different things for relieving allergies, losing weight, and gaining muscle," Tryon said.
Tryon said she was not sure if people used the store as a way to avoid traditional medicine, but did say that many used the store to complement it.
"People come looking for solutions for whatever their ailments are," she said.
"But most end up heading to their doctor to ask their advice first."
Aside from the more scientific aspects of healing, spiritual healing has been around forever.
Stephanie Tighe, co-founder of Spirit Weavers in Charlotte and teacher of Shamanism, focuses on the spiritual side of alternative medicine.
"(Shamanism) is one of the oldest-known spiritual practices," she said. "What we have done is studied traditional spiritual practices from all cultures around the world, and we found that there are commonalties in terms of healing techniques."
Tighe's business partner, Kate Durda, said the commonalties of healing techniques are called "restoration of lost power, soul retrieval and extraction work."
"Working with the spiritual side often has effects with the physical realms," she said. "Sometimes our emotions can exacerbate a physical illness. If you can work with someone with their spirituality, it's just a very important connection for hope."
Both Wilcox Jamieson and Tighe agree a patient's options are crucial to their health.
"We want people to have different choices. We give information about what options there are in addition to traditional medicine," Wilcox Jamieson said. "We want to be in a partnership with traditional medicine."
Tighe said the only disadvantage to alternative and holistic medicines is most patients do not research their treatment choices.
Tighe, a cancer survivor, said her lifestyle changes - such as the connection to Shamanism and a change in diet - has helped her stay cancer-free for 15 years.
"This is what has worked for me," Tighe said. "It's not the path for everybody, but for me, this works."
Leah Singer is the MS&U general assignment reporter and Tina Reed is the Volleyball Reporter. They can be reached at singerle@msu.edu and reedtina@msu.edu.
