From the Elevate Your Health Radio Show — with Heather Peters, FNP-BC and Dr. George Fleming

When something feels off, Google is usually the first stop. We get it — it’s fast, it’s free, and you can search from the couch at 11 p.m. But the answers that come back are often generic, occasionally wrong, and almost never tailored to you.

On our latest episode of Elevate Your Health, Heather Peters and Dr. George Fleming sat down to work through the questions people are actually searching for — with context, nuance, and the kind of “it depends” honesty you won’t get from a search bar.

Here’s the quick-reference version. If any of these hit close to home, we’re right down the road in West Jefferson, and a free consultation is always on the table.

1. What’s a normal blood pressure?

The short answer: around 120/70 — but “normal” is relative to you.

Think of blood pressure like a gas gauge. High numbers are closer to “empty” (sickness). Low numbers are closer to “full” (optimal). You can sit in the middle of that range and technically be “fine,” but you’re drifting toward problems, not away from them. People tend to fixate on the top number, but the bottom number matters just as much — maybe more. Your heart spends about two-thirds of its time resting (that’s your diastolic, the bottom number) and one-third squeezing (systolic, the top number). We look at both, together.

2. Why am I always tired?

This is one of the biggest symptoms people ignore, because fatigue doesn’t feel like an emergency — you just push through.

The truth is, it’s almost never one single thing. It’s usually a stack:

• Not getting enough sleep
• Not fueling your body the way it needs
• High stress and a plate that keeps getting fuller
• Hormone shifts (especially around midlife)

If you’re dragging, the first place to look is your fundamentals — not a prescription.

3. What causes headaches?

Too many things to list. But the most common culprits we see:

• Dehydration — especially now that the weather is warming up and people are sweating more without replacing what they lose
• Too much screen time
• Tension and stress

One important exception: If you ever get the worst headache of your life — sudden onset within seconds, especially with exertion or with fainting — that’s not a Google moment. Go to the ER.

4. How much water should I actually drink?

Forget “eight glasses a day.” The real baseline:

Half your body weight in ounces, per day.

So at 150 pounds, that’s 75 ounces minimum.

And that’s just the floor. Anything dehydrating has to be replaced on top of that baseline:

• 8 oz of coffee → add 8 oz of water (caffeine is a diuretic)
• 12 oz Mountain Dew → add 12 oz of water
• A workout → add even more

If you’re drinking “three bottles of water a day” but those bottles are 12 or 16 ounces each, you’re probably nowhere close to where you need to be.

5. What’s a normal heart rate?

In the U.S., the official range is 60 to 100 beats per minute. (Europe uses 50 to 90, for what it’s worth.)

The fitter you are, the lower it tends to be — so don’t panic if yours runs on the low end.

6. How many calories should I eat?

This is the wrong question — or at least, an incomplete one.

The right number depends entirely on your goals. Are you training for a race? A high-school athlete still growing? Trying to lose weight? Managing a chronic condition? The answer is different for each of those, and there is no universal number.

This is exactly the kind of question that deserves a real conversation, not a calculator.

7. What are the signs of anxiety or depression?

It’s not always obvious tears or full-blown panic. More often, it looks like:

• Persistent tiredness
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Mentally checking out
• Trouble sleeping
• Irritability
• Physical symptoms — heart palpitations, chest tightness, tension

If you’re noticing these, you’re not weak and you’re not making it up. They’re real warning signs, and they’re worth addressing early — before they get louder.

8. Can I take ibuprofen and Tylenol together?

Yes. They work differently, so they can safely be combined if you space them correctly:

• Tylenol (acetaminophen): every 4 hours
• Ibuprofen: every 6 hours

Dosing also depends on weight, so check with us or your pharmacist if you’re unsure — especially for kids.

9. How do I get rid of belly fat?

The honest answer: you can’t spot-reduce. You don’t get to pick where your body pulls fat from first.

That said, belly fat — especially in men — is usually driven by a familiar list:

• Lack of strength training
• Hormone shifts
• Poor sleep
• Genetics

So the better question is: how do I keep belly fat from building up in the first place? Strength train, sleep well, manage stress, and eat for your body. There’s no spot-fix, but the lifestyle levers absolutely work.

10. Why are doctors so quick to prescribe cholesterol meds?

This one could fill a two-hour conversation, but here’s the short version.

Standard medical training says: if cholesterol is above a certain number, prescribe medication. Pair that with 10- or 15-minute appointment slots, and there simply isn’t time to teach a patient what a “low cholesterol diet” actually looks like, or walk through the lifestyle pieces driving the number up.

The result is a prescription — not because the doctor doesn’t care, but because it’s the only tool left when the clock runs out.

That’s a big part of why we do what we do differently. Time is the treatment.

Time is the treatment.

Bonus: Will baking soda and lemon juice cure cancer?

We got this one in late, and it deserves a direct answer: no.

Cancer is driven by underlying inflammation and genetics. The things that actually move the needle are the things that reduce chronic inflammation over time — good sleep, real food, and regular movement. You can’t skip the fundamentals and make it up with a glass of baking soda water.

The Real Takeaway

Almost every question on this list ends the same way: it depends on you. And that is exactly what Google can’t tell you. If any of this sparked a question you’d like answered in real life — by a real person who knows your history — we’d love to talk. Your first consultation is free.

Call us: (336) 646-7442

Text us: (336) 920-8331

Find us: Downtown West Jefferson, on Buck Mountain Road — just look for the big sign.

Follow us: Facebook and Instagram. Send us your questions anytime — we can always keep them anonymous on the show.

Tune in to Elevate Your Health every other week on WKSK 93.5 The Farm, and if there’s a topic you want us to dig into, let us know. We’ll get to it on the next show.