Jason Sonners - Wellness to the Core: Be Fit, Be Nourished, Be Balanced Beyond the Limitations of Traditional Medicine

This book is intended as a reference volume only, not as a medical manual. The information given here is designed to help you make informed decisions about your health. It is not intended as a substitute for any treatment that may have been prescribed by your doctor. If you suspect that you have a medical problem, you should seek competent medical help. You should not begin a new health regimen without first consulting a medical professional.

Published by River Grove Books
Austin, TX
www.rivergrovebooks.com

Copyright 2014 Jason Sonners

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the copyright holder.

Distributed by River Grove Books

For ordering information or special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact River Grove Books at PO Box 91869, Austin, TX 78709, 512.891.6100.

Design and composition by Greenleaf Book Group LLC
Cover design by Greenleaf Book Group LLC
Cover image (apple): iStockphoto.com/mixformdesign

eBook ISBN: 978-1-938416-59-0

eBook Edition

Other Editions
Print ISBN: 978-1-938416-60-6

This book is dedicated to my children, and to yours.
May it help lead the way to a healthier generation.

To Melissa, my wife: Thank you for supporting me as I wrote this book. I could not have completed it without your patience, understanding, and love!

To my children, Levi and Wyatt: Although you are too young to understand this, you are both the driving force for my continued efforts to change the face of health care in this country.

To my family: Thanks to each of you who read the dozens of early drafts of this book. Your thoughts, edits, and comments have all helped to make this book complete.

To Rob Gordon, freelance writer and friend: Without your help, this project may have never gotten off the ground. Your ideas and motivation are greatly appreciated.

To Dr. James Chestnut: I am deeply grateful for the skills, tools, and philosophy you shared with me as your student. You have given me the resources I need to make a positive impact on the people in my life.

It has been well documented that between 75 and 90 percent of chronic illness is the direct result of lifestyle. This means the decisions you make every day regarding your sleep routine, food choices, exercise habits, and how you handle stressful moments directly affect your current level of health. Recognizing the power you have over your health is profound because then you can take responsibility for the way you feel and the way your body functions.

Do you feel good most of the time? Do you wake up feeling refreshed, with plenty of energy to get you through the day? Do you feel totally in control of your stress and daily responsibilities? Do you have loving and supportive relationships with the people who are important to you? Do you actively learn and incorporate new healthy behaviors into your routine? If you answered yes to the above questions, then your doctor would likely find that you have balanced blood sugar, normal cholesterol, normal blood pressure readings, and balanced hormone levels. You would notice that, as time passes, your health improves year after year. If this is true, please continue making the same choices youve been making. You are on the right track!

If, however, you wake up in the morning feeling tired, lacking the energy needed to finish your day, feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, or stressed out, youre feeling warning signs. And, if you are overweight, underappreciated, have high cholesterol or blood pressure, are displeased with your current health, and notice things continue to get worse year after year, it is not too late. You still have the opportunity to change your health.

The first step on the path to wellness is understanding that you do have a say in the matter. You are not doomed to be unhealthy, as long as youre willing to do a few things:

• Consider a new approach to your health and your life.
• Make subtle changes to your daily routine.
• Play a proactive role in your health rather than waiting and reacting to each health crisis as it presents itself.

Are you ready to make the commitment to change? Let this book lead your way.

Wellness to the Core is divided into two parts. addresses the causes of why humans have become so sick. It also clarifies the relationship between our current state of (un)health as a nation and the current health care crisis. Within the parameters of todays health care model there is no way out of the cycle of chronic illness and disease that is plaguing our society. Our collective poor health feeds the health care machine and, in turn, the machine facilitates our declining health. It is an exhaustive downward spiral with no real potential to cure or stop the original ailments.

We need a new modela new way of thinking about health care as a whole that will offer a real solution to the crisis. offers solutions for getting your health back on track. It outlines the steps you can take to begin the process of reclaiming your health and the life you deserve.

Not everyone reading this book is starting from the same place. Some readers may already be quite healthy and looking for ways to make sure they continue on that track or even to take their health to a higher level. More likely, however, you may be one of the millions of Americans who feel your health slipping away from you. You may even be in a situation that feels hopeless, due to a disease, condition, chronic pain, or predisposition that seems unresolvable. No matter what your current level of health, it is not too late to begin to make changes. As you will see, your health is a continuum on which you are constantly changing your position based on the choices you make. This book can help move you along the health continuum from poor health, through a transitional period, and finally into true health and wellness.

As you read my recommendations, decide where you want to start on your path to wellness. Commit to a few changes. Make those changes part of who you are and then add a few more. You will be improving your health immediately even as you begin to get comfortable with your new routine. As years pass, you will look back and really see that your health has improved instead of deteriorated as you aged.

None of us are as healthy as we can be, and few of us are so sick that we are beyond help. My recommendations apply to the entire population. You may already be doing some of the things I recommend. If so, thats great! Now take it to the next level! Or, you may not be doing any of them yet. Thats okay, too. Read through the options and choose changes that you can stick with, that make you happy, and that line up with your goals.

America is in the throes of a colossal health care crisis. It is evident not only in the increasingly high rates of chronic illness, but also in Americans inability to deal with, manage, or prevent these widespread diseases. Here are a few facts regarding the health care crisis: