Week 2 is already in the books, while my family and friends have snow in the north we are experiencing cooler temperatures by Florida’s standards. It isn’t too bad, though; cold for Florida is in the mid 40s. It hasn’t been beach weather but at least I don’t have to dig my car out of the snow!

We had Monday off for Martin Luther King Day, so this past week went by even faster because it was only four days. I am the president of the Chiro Games Club, secretary for the Motion Palpation Club, and the new tutor for Cellular Physiology and Hematology. This week I used the extra time to start filling out paperwork for everything I am involved in.

I returned to class on Tuesday and continued to learn new material in pathologies, biochemistry, and microbiology. I had a quiz in Science of Diet and Nutrition. Thankfully many of the concepts were covered in human and nutritional biochemistry. This class seems to be taking all the concepts we covered and putting it into applicable information. We needed to memorize the picture below. The picture depicts pain and inflammation from omega six fatty acids. Vegetation is high in alpha linolenic acid which is a precursor for EPA, an omega three fatty acid. Here at National University, we learn how diet affects the body biochemically. To summarize what we have gone over, vegetation and grass fed or wild meat are the best foods to prevent pain and inflammation.

One of the main reasons I decided to pursue chiropractic rather than allopathic or osteopathic medicine is the fact I don’t take medication unless absolutely necessary. I prefer preventing pain and inflammation rather than allowing it to occur and taking an anti-inflammatory. I remember growing up as a student athlete relying on NSAIDs and muscle creams. When I was a sophomore in high school I read about a fellow student athlete from another school who died from too many NSAIDs and muscle creams. That was a key event in shaping my medical philosophy during my adolescence. Rather than being in a constant state of inflammation and relying on medication, one can make simple dietary alterations.

Over the weekend my girlfriend and I decided to go to downtown St. Petersburg. We browsed some shops, walked around the city, and stopped in a well-known dive bar for a late lunch. We found a lot of cool restaurants and breweries we are excited to try. It was a nice break from school and paperwork. I am going to sound like a broken record but I have to reiterate how important it is to have an outlet from school. One of the best parts about NUHS in Florida is the location; there is always something to do!

Thank you for reading my blog! If you have any questions feel free to email me at [email protected].