Drs. Warren

One of the biggest mistakes we see with fasting is putting all the attention on the fast itself and almost no thought into what happens afterward. But after a 3–5 day water fast, your digestive system needs time to transition back to regular meals.

That's why we encourage people to refeed slowly and intentionally. Instead of immediately eating a large meal, start with warm, easy-to-digest foods such as bone broth, broth-based soups, and soft, well-cooked vegetables. Keep portions small and gradually add more food as your digestion adjusts.

A few things to remember during refeeding:
• Introduce healthy fats slowly, especially if you have trouble digesting them
• Avoid starting with large portions of meat or other heavy proteins
• Choose cooked vegetables before raw vegetables
• Consider small amounts of fermented, probiotic-rich foods as tolerated
• Pay attention to bloating, cramping, diarrhea, or uncomfortable fullness—these may be signs you're moving too quickly

As you tolerate food better, you can gradually bring back quality protein and more nutrient-dense whole foods. The goal isn't to stay in restriction forever. Fasting creates a period of rest and cellular recycling, while refeeding gives your body the nutrients it needs to rebuild.

Don't think of breaking your fast as simply "eating again." Think of it as the next phase of the fasting process. How you nourish your body afterward deserves just as much intention as the fast itself.

Extended water fasting isn't appropriate for everyone and should be discussed with an appropriate healthcare professional, particularly if you have medical conditions or take medications.

A lot of attention goes toward helping moms prepare for birth, but birth partners need preparation too. Support can be much more effective when your partner understands what helps you feel calm, what makes you feel overwhelmed, and what you want your birth environment to look like.

Your partner doesn't need to know everything about birth. But before your birthing day, it can help to talk about:
• What helps you relax when you're stressed
• Words or affirmations you want to hear
• Whether touch helps you feel calm or becomes distracting
• Your preferences for lighting, music, movement, and positioning
• Who you want supporting you during birth
• Questions or preferences you want your partner to help communicate to your birth team

A doula can also be a valuable part of this support system. A doula doesn't replace a partner. Instead, they can help both parents navigate the birth experience by suggesting comfort measures, positions, movement, and ways the partner can provide meaningful support.

Birth partners can prepare mentally too. Learning about the birth process, asking questions, understanding the provider's approach, and discussing different possibilities ahead of time can help both parents feel more prepared.

No one can predict exactly how birth will unfold, but couples can prepare to work together through the unexpected.

Mom shouldn't have to carry all of the preparation alone. Having an informed, calm, and supportive partner can help create an environment where she feels heard, respected, supported, and cared for throughout the birth experience.

When our kids are running a fever, one of the first things we pay attention to isn't just the thermometer; it's hydration. A fever can increase fluid loss because the body is working harder; breathing may become faster, and children may sweat more. At the same time, a child who doesn't feel well may not want to eat or drink as much as usual.

That's why we encourage parents to offer fluids frequently rather than waiting until their child says they're thirsty. Things we pay attention to include:
• Are they drinking throughout the day?
• Are they urinating regularly?
• Is their mouth unusually dry?
• Are they producing tears when they cry?
• Are they becoming increasingly sleepy or difficult to wake?

Water is helpful, but electrolytes can also be useful when a child is losing fluids. Depending on their age and situation, an appropriate oral rehydration solution may help replace both fluids and electrolytes. Small, frequent sips can often be easier than trying to get a sick child to drink a large amount at once.

A fever is only one piece of the picture. Paying attention to hydration, behavior, breathing, and overall responsiveness can tell you much more about how your child is doing. If your child can't keep fluids down, is urinating much less than usual, is difficult to wake, has trouble breathing, or you're concerned about dehydration, contact your pediatrician or seek medical care.

Sometimes one of the simplest ways we can support our children while they're sick is also one of the most important: keep them hydrated and give their bodies time to recover.

Better health usually isn’t built through one dramatic decision. It’s built through the choices you repeat every day. The foods you eat regularly, how often you move, the quality of your sleep, how you manage stress, and how well you support healthy blood sugar and inflammation can all influence what your health may look like years from now.

That’s especially important when we talk about heart health. Cardiovascular problems can develop gradually over decades, which means prevention should begin long before you feel like something is wrong. You don’t have to wait for a diagnosis or a concerning lab result to start taking better care of yourself.

Give your body more of what helps it thrive today. Keep showing up, even when progress feels slow. Those daily choices are adding up in ways you may not be able to see yet. Taking care of your health today is one of the greatest gifts you can give your future self.

Great care should leave you feeling more informed, more confident, and more hopeful about where your health can go next.

We love hearing when our patients walk away with a clearer understanding of their health and a plan they can actually move forward with. Our goal isn’t simply to tell you what to do, it’s to help you understand the “why” behind your care and give you the tools to take an active role in your wellness journey.

Our goal is to always serve our community both locally and worldwide:
• Locally with structural corrective chiropractic care, functional wellness coaching, and hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy
• Worldwide with functional coaching, helping individuals uncover root causes and restore health naturally.

If you’ve been looking for a different approach to your health, we’d love to connect with you.

📍 2515 Lifestyle Way #105, Chattanooga, TN 37421
📞 (423) 362-5360
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👉 Reach out to us to make an appointment!

Exercise is one of the best things you can do for your health, but there are seasons when pushing harder can create more stress than your body can recover from.

This is something we see frequently when someone is already dealing with chronic stress, poor sleep, low energy, hormone imbalances, or an overwhelmed stress response. They’re exhausted, but they keep increasing the intensity of their workouts because they’ve been taught that more exercise equals better health and faster weight loss.

Here’s the piece that often gets missed: exercise is still a stressor. Normally, it’s a beneficial stress that challenges the body and allows it to become stronger during recovery. But if your body is already struggling to adapt to stress, intense workouts without enough recovery can become another demand on an already overloaded system.

You might notice:
• Your energy crashes after workouts
• You need longer to recover
• Sleep becomes worse instead of better
• Weight loss stalls despite exercising more
• You feel increasingly depleted or overwhelmed

This doesn’t mean you need to stop moving. It means your exercise may need to match your current ability to recover. For a season, walking outside, Pilates, resistance bands, mobility work, or lower-intensity strength training may serve your body better than repeatedly pushing through exhausting workouts.

We’ve seen patients make better progress after reducing workout intensity because their bodies finally had enough room to recover. As sleep, energy, nourishment, and stress resilience improve, exercise intensity can gradually change too.

More exercise isn’t always more healing. The right amount of exercise is the amount your body can adapt to and recover from.

Not all bread affects the body in exactly the same way. One of the biggest differences can be how the bread is prepared. Traditional sourdough goes through a long fermentation process where bacteria and yeast begin breaking down parts of the grain before you ever eat it. This process can make properly prepared sourdough easier to digest for some people compared with conventional, quickly processed bread.

Long fermentation can:
• Break down some gluten proteins
• Reduce certain compounds that interfere with mineral absorption
• Make nutrients in the grain more available
• Change how carbohydrates are digested
• Improve digestibility for some people

But this doesn't mean sourdough is automatically appropriate for everyone. If you're actively working on gut inflammation, have celiac disease, react strongly to gluten, or are in an elimination phase, regular wheat-based sourdough may still not be a good choice. And remember, "sourdough" on the label doesn't always mean traditionally fermented. Many commercial breads are produced quickly and may contain added yeast, sweeteners, oils, preservatives, and other ingredients.

If you eventually reintroduce wheat, quality and preparation matter. Look at the ingredients, consider how the bread was fermented, start with a small amount, and pay attention to how your body responds.

Sometimes nutrition isn't simply about asking, "Is this food good or bad?" A better question is: How was it prepared, what is its quality, and how does my body respond to it?

Healing isn't about being perfect every day. There will be days when you miss a workout, make less-than-ideal food choices, or feel like you're not making progress. That doesn't mean you've failed.

What matters is what you do next. Every healthy meal, every good night's sleep, every walk, and every positive choice is another step toward better health.

Don't let one difficult day undo your commitment. Consistency will always take you further than perfection.

Keep showing up. Keep learning. Keep believing that your body has an incredible ability to heal when it's given the right support.

What if your symptoms weren't the problem, but a clue pointing to something deeper?

One of the biggest shifts you can make in your health journey is to stop asking, "How do I get rid of this symptom?" and start asking, "Why is this symptom happening?"

Symptoms are rarely the problem; they're often your body's way of getting your attention.

For example:
• Fatigue may point to nutrient deficiencies, poor sleep, or hormone imbalances.
• Digestive issues may signal gut inflammation or an imbalance in your microbiome.
• Brain fog can be influenced by inflammation, blood sugar swings, stress, or poor detoxification.
• Low energy may reflect problems with your mitochondria, thyroid, or mineral status.

Your body doesn't wake up one day and decide to work against you. It's constantly adapting to the environment you give it. When it can no longer compensate, symptoms begin to appear.

That's why simply covering symptoms isn't the same as restoring health. Real healing starts by identifying what's placing stress on the body and removing those obstacles whenever possible.

Focus on building a healthier foundation:
• Eat foods that nourish your cells.
• Prioritize quality sleep.
• Support healthy stress management.
• Move your body consistently.
• Address nutrient deficiencies.
• Look deeper instead of settling for quick fixes.

Your symptoms have a purpose. Listen to them, learn from them, and let them guide you toward better health instead of simply trying to silence them.

When you understand why your body is struggling, you can begin supporting it in the way it was designed to heal.

When we say we LOVE to take care of families, this isn’t exactly what we meant 😂 so thankful for all the families proitizing their health in our office… but maybe 1 person at a time.