Nutritional Advice

Would you like to lose weight?

We have been led to believe that weight loss occurs when we are burning more calories than we are taking in (the law of thermodynamics). But, weight loss is not about calories in, calories out. Some of us cannot lose weight, even while under-eating. I have seen this hundreds of times. What is at the root of your weight issue—a hidden gut infection, hormone imbalance, or a dysfunctional microbiome? Let me help you get to the root of the problem so you can lose your excess weight and take back your life.

Flitting from one fad diet to the next is dangerous and downright disastrous! Diets don’t work—the weight always comes back, along with unintended metabolic consequences. Contact me to start your personalized sessions and understand how to permanently lose weight the healthy way.

Why should you understand your blood chemistry?

Would you like to understand the numbers from your blood work? What is really going on with your thyroid? Are you leaning towards diabetes? Is your stress driving you toward heart disease? Those yearly blood tests are full of information that is left on the table. There are many indicators that tell us our health trends long before an actual diagnosis. Schedule a Functional Blood Chemistry Analysis and learn on multiple levels what those blood values really mean and where your health is trending. I recommend this service to my clients as an annual tune up to keep track of health needs (note: you will need a current blood panel; be sure to ask about getting a blood order).

Do you need more discipline in your life?

We all struggle with the willpower to stick to our goals when it comes to certain foods, especially high carbohydrate foods. Why is that? How many times have you sworn off sugar for a day, only to break down later that evening with a bowl of ice cream? Some foods are more addicting than cocaine. So, how can we lose our addictions and gain back control of our diets? It is absolutely possible!

Schedule an appointment with me to learn how to get back your control, why some foods are super addicting and how to incorporate specific nutrients to help break the addiction cycle. Remember, three quarters of the population in America is overweight or obese. This number is so high because of our addiction to high carbohydrate, industrialized foods!

Do You Suffer From Diarrhea, Constipation, Crohn’s Disease, Colitis?

Right now in America, we have multiple epidemics playing out. Along with obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, we are seeing more people than ever before suffering with digestive issues. And of course, good digestion is the keystone of good health. If you don’t have your digestion in good working order you may never be able to heal from your health issues.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), is a broad disorder diagnosed in a large segment of our population but I think many cases go undiagnosed by medical professionals. By far most of the people I see in my practice have some kind of gut issue. SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth) is showing up often now-a-days. Autoimmune diseases like ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease are on the rise, seen more and more frequently. Sluggish bowel transition time leading to chronic constipation, and daily diarrhea are becoming ‘normal’. For the record this is not normal, but often the start of a life time of sickness, leading to frequent trips to the doctor and multiple prescriptions that might relieve some symptoms, but generally make thing worse in the long run. The cost is high in time, money, productivity and quality of life!

What is happening here? The cause behind these health issues if often multifaceted, and it can take some serious detective work to get to the root of the problem, but there are answers. Our nutrient-less standard American diet needs to be considered first, as the ‘SAD’ will degrade anyone’s health if consumed long enough. Advanced lab testing (which I will order if necessary) can reveal stealth infections that are creating havoc in the gut of sick individuals which are both causing (and the cause of) an imbalance in the biome. Often food sensitivities due to a ‘leaky gut’ can be part of the problem. Many things contribute to a dysfunctional digestive system, but getting the digestive tract healed and sealed by learning what to eat and how to properly prepare it, learning what to eliminate from the diet, adding in appropriate supplementation, reducing stress (and other lifestyle changes), can make gut problems go away permanently.

Are You Confused by Mainstream Health Advice?

There is no dearth of information about health and wellness out there. But wading through all of the information can be daunting. There is a tremendous amount of information that contradicts itself creating confusion and pushing forward many ideas that are not based in science.

Most of the journalism that is easily available for the public to access (popular magazines, television) is funded by corporations that have multi-billion dollar agendas. They want to sell their food products a lot more than they want to see you live a long and healthy life. Take the industrialized food industry, aka processed foods. Industrialized food is worth almost three trillion dollars worldwide. There is a lot riding on the sale of processed foods. The industrialized food business model is to see an increase of sales every year, and they make this happen by making sure the channels are open and well-funded to support this economic growth.

Many people get information from the label of the food they are purchasing. The label tells a story about how healthy the food product is. You might see ‘fortified with iron’ or ‘fortified with vitamin D’ or ‘added vitamins and minerals’. Most people don’t realize the information on the label is exactly what the marketing department has designed for you to read, so you’ll feel good and secure about your food purchase, so you’ll buy more. Keep in mind your health is not a priority for the industrialized food industry.

Television has been a big influence on what we tend to think is healthy. Advertisements are geared towards our children on channels kids regularly watch. Marketing strategies indoctrinate our babies about what they should be eating. Do we really want Nestle educating our kids about food choices? Think about what you see on television, there is probably nothing more warm and fuzzy than a coke commercial, except maybe a McDonald’s advertisement.

Many people will take the advice of their physicians when it comes to nutrition. Though there are some pretty awesome MD’s who have gone on to educate themselves about nutrition, this is the exception. Nutrition is generally not taught in med school, and when it is, it’s only a few credit hours, not enough to be giving nutrition advice to patients.

Health coaches can be very helpful. These individuals have usually been through a recognized certification program, and understand nutrition from a physiological perspective. These health coaches can be very good at helping people with chronic health issues get to the root of the problem.  Unfortunately there are health coaches who have not received good instruction, and truthfully anyone can call themselves a ‘health coach’. Sometimes incorrect information comes from improperly educated health coaches.

I would suggest to anyone looking for health guidance, to ask questions, and find out if the practitioner you are considering working with has worked with people in the past who have your diagnoses, or health issues. Find out how long they have been in practice, and don’t be afraid to ask for references. Getting together with the right practitioner can make a big difference in your healing process.

Would You Like To Learn Some New Healthy Recipes?

Ok, I’ll agree to the statement that cooking is an art. But just because you think your cooking skills match the stick-figure drawing skills of a first grader doesn’t mean you will be unsuccessful in the kitchen. You don’t need to be a chef to prepare a few nutritious and really delicious meals. A few good pointers are all that’s needed to make some of the best tasting dishes.

I have certain requirements for the recipes you’ll find on my website. They need to taste really good, they need to be super easy to moderate in difficulty and they need to be healthy. I have two general rules for recipes that I publish. Recipes on my website will be gluten free and free of refined sugar; often completely sugar free.

The truth is, we don’t need either ingredient to create some simple yet delicious meals to feed our body and soul. Preparing healthy meals for ourselves and cooking for our loved ones is one of the most profound ways to show our love and appreciation, but most of all it promotes a deep sense of well-being.