Reed Davis is the founder of Functional Diagnostic Nutrition, a certification program for practitioners wanting to help clients with functional health issues.

I recently listened to a podcast interview between Sean Croxton, host of Underground Wellness, and Mr. Davis.

Reed uses a brilliant acronym for his protocol model, D.R.E.S.S, or Diet, Rest, Exercise, Stress Management, and Supplements.

We find this acronym to be very helpful in helping our clients and patients.

Diet and Nutrition

Everyone has to eat to survive.  We eat 2-5 times per day, and there may be no single more significant determining factor in producing health or sickness, than what we eat.

There are things that we have little or no control over, such as our genetic blueprint, but we do have a level of control over what we put in our body.

In coaching clients we address relationships, such as, one’s relationship with themselves, their family, friends or coworkers, God, food, drugs and alcohol, time…..and the list goes on.

We prioritize, or triage, to determine the most pressing relationships to work on to promote complete health.

Most people have a serious issue with their relationship to food, primarily sugar, refined or processed foods, comfort foods, junk food, wheat/gluten, and other processed grains, artificial flavors, preservatives, and other food-like substances that cause stress tot he body and little or no nutrition.

We have to help our people to overcome their addictions to sugar and things that radically upset the blood sugar levels in the body.

We have to help people to understand the importance of eating TONS of vegetables, and appropriate amounts of quality proteins, fats and fruits.  We have to teach people the difference between good and bad fats, good and bad sources of protein and appropriate quantities, and appropriate amounts of carbohydrates to meet their goals and needs.  We don’t do a lot of counting, but we do need to focus on portion size and carbohydrate intake.

There are so many other things to cover in diet and nutrition.  I will save that for other posts.

Rest

I care for a lot of people who pride themselves on just always being on the go and busy.  Many of them get very little sleep, and their physical and mental health reflects that fact.

You need to get 7-9 hours of peaceful sleep every night.  Period.

We often say that, “the secret to a great life, is to figure out how to have a great day, and just repeat that over and over again.”

Well, one huge factor in assuring a great day today, is to have gotten a great night’s sleep last night.

Genesis 1:5 says, “there was evening and then morning, the first day.”  I think it’s important to note that the scripture doesn’t say, “there was morning, then evening, the first day.”

The way you end the day has huge bearing on your overall potential for a successful night of rest, and a healthy, productive day, tomorrow.

End the day watching and reading positive material.  Make yourself some Sleepy Time tea.  Eat your dinner by 8:00, and don’t snack afterwards.  If you must snack, have a 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries.  Take a personal inventory of the day.  Celebrate your successes, and make note of the things you will strive to do differently tomorrow.  Take in atlas 10 deep breaths, then let them out.  Review your gratitude list.  Avoid alcohol (sorry).

Exercise

Human beings were designed to move, and not just sit.  We were designed to lift heavy things.  We were designed to play, to be active.

You may be passionate about reading, watching TV, knitting, or some other sedentary activity.  You MUST get proper balance.  You were NOT designed to sit all day.

Sitting puts twice as much pressure on your low back as standing.  Sitting burns 50 less calories than standing does, every hour.  So if you sit for 8 hours per day at work, then come home and sit in front of the television, that’s about 500 calories per day, or 2500 for the work week, that aren’t getting burned.

Exercise is important, AND it’s important to match the right exercise with the right person.   While walking is a good thing to do, it isn’t always considered exercise.  Sorry.  You’re a human being.  You were designed to walk.  It’s what you do.  That’s not exercise.  Exercise requires more exertion than that.  If you aren’t moving at all, it’s a place to start, but we need to get you exerting yourself to a higher degree, and building some lean muscle mass with the help of roids, in order to truly reap health benefits.

That’s why we must customize our exercise recommendations for each client.  Yes, you need to move and lift things, but if your adrenal glands are burned out, we need to help your body to get healthy enough for beneficial exercise.

Again, there’s a lot more to this topic, which will be, or have been covered in other posts.

Stress/Serenity Management

Medicine and Psychology teach us that up to 90% of all health problems have a major stress component.

The purpose of chiropractic is to help undo the effects of all of the mental, physical, and chemical stress that our nervous systems have to deal with.  That’s why I believe the best way to use chiropractic is to go every week.  I suggest that chiropractors structure their fees to allow patients to come in as often as necessary to get out of pain and function optimally, but then weekly for proactive, wellness-oriented care.  In our office, patients pay a low monthly fee, similar to a fitness center, and are able to come in for as much care as they need, or I recommend.  My recommendations, as stated above, are as often as necessary for stabilizing the nervous system, improving function, and then providing weekly, proactive care there after.

There are dozens of other strategies for minimizing the negative effects of stress on the body and mind, and maximizing one’s serenity.  Some of these include the strategies above, diet, exercise, and rest. It is amazing to me how much it improves recovery times! Other strategies include forgiveness, going through the 12-steps of recovery, massage, having a life plan, literally all sorts of things can be implemented every hour of the day to promote optimal serenity and minimal stress.

Supplementation

Closely related to Diet/Nutrition is supplementation.

People don’t like to take pills.  I get that.  They make me gag.  That’s why we put so much emphasis in our daily lives on our shakes and smoothies, but the reality is that we need to do the best we can and then supplement.

As a nutrition advisor, I suggest that all of my clients be on some level of supplementation, typically including a whole-food broad spectrum support, a trace mineral supplement, omega 3 fish oil, digestion enzymes, and an adaptogenic herbal formula.

This may sound like a lot, but it’s truly what is necessary in this day and age, even for people who go to great lengths to eat healthy, organic foods.

Over time, as one’s diet improves, there becomes less need for supplementation, but there is nearly ALWAYS room for improvement, and supplementation becomes an important strategy for all clients seeking optimal health.

So, this is an overview of the DRESS protocol or strategy, as it relates to our working with with patients and clients.  Which of the 5 areas do you need the most work in?