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Caroline Fierro, a gynecologist who also has extensive training in acupuncture and other alternative therapies, is one of four medical specialists who will speak at the Rogers Memorial Library in the next few weeks as part of the Smart Parenting/Healthy Kids series.
Dr. Fierro will be speaking at the library on October 7 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. about how healthy nutrition can decrease inflammation in the body. She explained in a telephone interview that inflammation damages tissues in the body and can lead to cancer, heart disease and stroke.
In addition to Dr. Fierro, on September 30 the library will host Ragan Finalborgo and Holly Maran, who both hold certificates in health counseling from Columbia University. Ms. Finalborgo and Ms. Maran will discuss preventative nutrition and talk about how caregivers can improve their families’ well-being through healthy meals.
Penelope Wright, the director of adult programs at the Rogers Memorial Library, said that the Smart Parenting/Healthy Kids series is part of a larger one, called “To Your Health,” a health and wellness series funded by the Elizabeth Desch and Emily Schrader endowments, which has been going on for about a year.
She said that she and Laura Deer Moore, the adult program associate at the library who did the majority of the legwork for the Smart Parenting/Healthy Kids series, had initially planned on having only Ms. Finalborgo and Ms. Maran discuss sound nutrition for families.
“We then heard about two other potential speakers, Nathalie Stern and Caroline Fiero,” Ms. Wright said. “Out of these three separate program ideas came the idea to present them as a series that we hoped would interest parents.”
Dr. Stern, who has offices in Southampton and Manhattan, spoke Wednesday night about how homeopathic medicine can treat colds, allergies, ear infections and depression.
Ms. Wright said that there are already about two dozen reservations for each of the seminars. She believes that the program is so popular because the library is offering childcare and food each night. The program is open to everyone, Ms. Wright said. Participants do not have to be members of the library.
Like Dr. Stern, Dr. Fierro has diverged from western medicine, adding eastern therapies to her repertoire of healing.
“I went to medical school, but I realized I wouldn’t heal anyone that way, so I became an acupuncturist,” Dr. Fierro said.
She then learned that people who are hormonally and nutritionally balanced respond the best to acupuncture, so, she said, she “went out and learned how to help people become nutritionally and hormonally balanced.”
To do so, she became an advanced fellow at the American Academy of Antiaging Medicine, which has offices in Boca Raton, Florida, and Chicago, and then continued her training at the Institute of Functional Medicine, which is based in Washington.
For those who cannot make her seminar on October 7, or for those who want to improve their health immediately, Dr. Fierro offered this one tip: do not eat processed sugar.
“The most important thing to do in your diet to prevent inflammation is to not eat sugar,” Dr. Fierro said, emphasizing that inflammation opens up the body to disease. “And make sure you consume 11 to 15 fruits and vegetables every day.”
Joseph Shaw, Executive Editor on Sep 22, 2009