Local Chiropractor visits Rotary Club

Dr. Robert Spees, DC of Spees Chiropractic in St. Marys visited the New Bremen-New Knoxville Rotary Club to discuss health and nutrition.  “I also get into nutrition a lot,” said Spees.  “I kind of consider myself a nutritionist as well.”  Spees defined health as a “state of optimum physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absences of disease or abnormality.”  This definition of health is the accepted definition of the World Health Organization.

Dr. Spees explained that we are considered to be in good health when our bodies are functioning at 100%.  “Symptoms are how you feel,” said Spees.  “Symptoms are a normal response of the body to alert you to a problem, and to help you take care of a problem.  All symptoms are designed to help you feel better.”  Dr. Spees explained that our bodies have an innate ability to adapt and heal itself.  “The body is self-healing and self-regulating,” said Spees.  “Did you have to think about your heart beating or your breathing today?”

Dr. Spees shared some statistics on the state of healthcare in the United States today.  The U.S. ranks 37^th overall in the quality of healthcare in the world (out of over 130 nations).   The U.S. spends the second most amount of money on healthcare in the world.  Over 40 million Americans are presently without health insurance. 

Dr. Spees provided a simple quiz to test the audience’s thoughts on nutrition.  “Which has more calories, a bran muffin or a glazed doughnut?” asked Spees.    “The bran muffin has more calories and sugar than the glazed doughnut. The Wendy’s BLT Cobb Salad has only 30 fewer calories than two Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers.” Dr. Spees stressed the point that the salad has nearly as many calories as the burgers due to the cheese and dressings that are added to the salad.   “We need to watch very carefully what we put into our bodies,” said Spees.

Dr. Spees outlined five components of good health, starting with exercise, noting that work is not exercise.  Dr. Spees suggested cardio-vascular, stretching and strength exercises.  Sleep is another important component of good health.  “It is important to give your body the adequate amount of sleep to regenerate your body,” said Spees.  He explained that attitude is very important to good health. “What you think about and your beliefs affect your health.  We need to do our best to combat the stresses we face in our daily lives.”

Another important component of good health is a balanced nervous system.  “This goes to the chiropractic side of me,” said Spees.”  It’s important that we take care of our nervous system and musculature.”  The final component of good health involves maintaining a good, healthy diet.  “Eat a diet of whole foods,” said Spees.  “Organic and natural foods are best.  Avoid as many processed and fried foods as possible.”  Dr. Spees identified pop or soda as being one of the worst foods people can take in because of the empty calories and high sugar and chemical content.

In his practice, Dr. Spees is able to treat many different conditions including: low energy, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, arthritis, allergies and more.  Dr. Spees utilizes Nutritional Response Testing to address many of these conditions.  “This is a designed clinical nutrition technique that uses the body’s natural stress reflexes,” said Spees.  “We use muscle testing as a part of this technique.”  Dr. Spees demonstrated a few muscle tests he utilizes to help determine whether or not a patient might have a particular condition.

Dr. Spees suggested that folks should decide if “you want to live your life healthy, or live your life sick.”  Dr. Spees identified many benefits of choosing a healthy lifestyle including more energy, better concentration, better attitude towards life, healthier children, better resistance to disease, improved co-ordination, a younger look and an overall better lifestyle.

 Hosting Rotarian: Roger Klosterman