Montauk Pioneer - June 26, 2009 - Doctor Diamond At Gurney's

There are so many reasons to go to the spa at Gurney's Inn. They offer some of the best massage therapists available and if you suffer from physical sports injuries like I do, or if you are just going for a place to relax, you absolutely have to go Gurney's Inn.

If you are going to get a sports massage or any deep tissue massage, you should without question ask for Seth Franco at the front desk, who is one of their best massage therapists for deep tissue treatment. Having worked with professional athletes before, Seth is very aware of nearly every injury that people suffer from and knows how to solve them with massage therapy. He is also great for getting advice on how to treat an injury or a sore spot on your body going forward. The top notch deep tissue treatment at Gurney's is so worth it if you need to relax.

But once you've had a treatment in the spa, all that is on your mind is health, and one of the experts on the subject, Dr. Michael R. Diamond, M.S., D.C. will be available to talk with you about it. The good doctor held a seminar at Gurney's Monday night that offered some of the most important information I have ever heard in regard to health and eating.

In a room filled with well over 100 people, he spoke about the importance of diet and how it relates not just to your health and life, but also to your happiness. He describes his principles as a strategy to living healthy and the focus is primarily what you put into the body. Doctor Diamond has countless people who seek help from him that are well over 300 lbs and are looking to lose weight, but a lot of his clients are also people who are looking to optimize their health and lead a better life. Some of his information, for me, was shocking. For example, he explained how good for you chocolate is in its natural form. The benefits of having chocolate in your diet is endless, the problem is processed chocolate, which is not even chocolate, but mostly milk and sugar. Those were the big enemies that he explained.

The superfoods he talked about were very interesting. He suggested not just to have supplements in your diet, but to actually "eat with a purpose" or in other words, when you eat something, ask yourself, what benefit am I getting by eating this. Displayed at the meeting were goji berries which have countless amounts of benefits to the body, as well as acai juice, which offers antioxidants in their natural form in high amounts.

Some of his principles were also very helpful. He told the group that they should avoid eating the same foods every day because you might develop food sensitivites over time. He also said that you should chew your food thoroughly, and that there are no teeth in the stomach. One of the best pieces of advice that I personally got out of the seminar was to be more aware of my blood sugar levels. He explained that blood sugar is the primary reason why a person feels tired later in the day and he suggested that you eat things like fruit to bring them up.

He also explained how processed foods are taking an unbelievable amount of nutrition out of our foods, so that supplements are important to take. He suggested also that adding more organic foods into your diet was important to combat this.

In terms of physical health, he suggested that you get a comprehensive yearly physical examination that includes blood pressure, lung function, skin and eye exams and he also said that decreasing stress was a key component to health.

What I liked most about Doctor Diamond was his ability to inspire eating healthy, and not simply selling some bologna product that would make you healthy. He was really preaching the importance of eating heatlhy and that eating healthy is different for everyone. Men and women should eat differently, people of different ages should eat differently and people from different cultural backgrounds should eat differently. It all depends on you individually, which is why he is such an important person to talk to.

He suggested to the group that they strive to do cardiovascular exercise for at least 2 and a half hours a week and to remember that it is easier to eat a calorie than to burn a calorie. He also suggested that you do either yoga or weight training at least 3 times a week for 45-60 minutes/session to improve your strength, posture and core stability.

Some of his advice was practical, like eat more fruit and vegetables. But other advice was extremely scientific and calls for a one on one talk with Doctor Diamond. You can reach him at Gurney's Inn by calling 631-668-3365.