About Dr. Lauren
Pihlgren N.M.D.
I was drawn to
naturopathic medicine long before I ever knew what it was or that it was even a
profession. See, in my formative years, I
grew up in the 70’s in a household where chips and soda were not allowed; where
my younger brother and I were expected to be out running around the
neighborhood from the time we got home from school until the sun went down;
where my parents not only knew all my friends, but all of their parents as
well; where a family sat down to a homemade dinner every night and talked about
what happened that day at school. In
short, it was an upbringing that instilled in me a sense of caring for my community
and friends in addition to the significance of family.
When I was 9 years
old, my parents got divorced and my grandparents (the HEALTH NUTS) pitched in
to help my mother with after school supervision and family dinners. It was at this time that the Era of the
Green Drink, rice cakes and the Enema began for me…
Under their vigilant
care, I grew up utilizing vitamins and supplements rather than “medication”, I
have been under the care of a chiropractor on and off as needed for various
injuries and illnesses since I was 8 years old and I have taken no more than
three courses of antibiotics in my entire life.
Although it was not a concept I was aware of at the time, my
grandparents, by way of feeding me “healthy snacks”, were teaching me to make
use of food as medicine. It was only
after matriculating to naturopathic medical school that I discovered this idea:
"The
doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patient in
the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease."
- THOMAS EDISON
I became aware of
the importance of paying attention to what I ate relatively early on. When I was in the 5th grade, I was
having difficulty focusing on my lessons during history class and my grades began
to suffer tremendously - no amount of studying made any difference. In an effort to remedy this situation, my
mother identified that this class occurred late in the morning immediately
preceding the lunch break. It was
discovered shortly thereafter that the reason I was having such difficulty concentrating
was because my blood sugar levels were exceptionally low. This hypoglycemic condition leads to irritability,
ill-temperament and grumpiness in addition to an inability to focus and
concentrate. I learned quickly that what
I ate and when I ate it had a significant effect not only on my physical
health, but also on my emotional wellbeing.
Through elementary
and middle school, I was the only girl in my neighborhood. I played every sport imaginable from whiffleball to driveway basketball to frontyard
football and all the games we made up in between. I also participated in such organized sports as
soccer, swimming, volleyball and cheerleading at various times through high
school and college and for recreation I took up skiing, rollerblading, hiking
and most recently rock climbing.
Given my athletic
background, I understand what drives you to be the weekend warrior that you
are, I recognize that you work hard and play harder and I realize that you are
NOT going to let an injury let alone a few aches and pains keep you from the
activities you love. But if you ignore
these minor injuries and the aches and pains for too long you can end up in a
worse position and instead of being out for a few days or a week you can
potentially face a rest period of many months!
Dr. Lauren Pihlgren specializes in personal
peak performance – helping YOU achieve
GET AN
EDGE OVER THE COMPETITION…
LET ME BE
YOUR SECRET WEAPON !
