body care and repair
Re-Education
1. The first thing to understand when undertaking nutritional healing based on blood chemistry is how functional nutritional blood chemistry differs from conventional blood chemistry.
There are two main types of ranges in the field of blood chemistry analysis: a pathological range and a functional range. The pathological range is used to diagnose disease. The functional range is used to assess risk for disease BEFORE disease develops. The reference ranges provided with laboratory tests are referred to as the “pathological range.” The main difference between the functional and pathological scales is the degree of deviation allowed within their ‘normal’ ranges.
According to Dr. Datis Kharrazian, many traditional healthcare providers do not embrace the concept of a functional range. “They believe that care should only be provided when disease is present. This view is generally formed from conventional medical training which ignores the philosophies of preventative medicine and nutrition. Traditional medical training teaches physicians to evaluate blood chemistry in comparison to ranges that determine disease. If disease is not present, the patient is considered “healthy.” The main difference between healthcare providers who embrace or reject functional ranges basically boils down to their definition of health. Some healthcare providers define health as an absence of disease and therefore if you are not diseased then you must be healthy. Other healthcare providers define health as being free of disease but also having adequate energy levels, healthy digestion, and ideal physiological function.”
The functional ranges have been determined by healthcare providers and researchers who embrace the principles of preventative medicine such as diet, nutrition and lifestyle changes. These include researchers associated with the American Association of Clinical Chemists and the Endocrine Society.
2. The second thing to wrap your mind around is the fact that we need to work very closely to Re-Educate you in the realms of physiology (how your body works), nutritional physiology (how food works in your body) and nutritional psychology (how eating is related to mental appropriation).
Much of what you ‘think you know’ is healthy for you is going to be flat out ‘wrong.’
The process of tying together how the body actually works and how nutrients work in the body will clarify all of your doubts and misconceptions, however this is a time consuming process that requires receiving a little information at a time and allowing that information to be assimilated before introducing more.
So we will start with the basics:Why What You Think You Know is ‘Right’ is Actually ‘Wrong’
It is very important to acknowledge that most of the information we {the public} get on nutrition is marketed or in the form of articles in publications like Time Magazine or breaking news stories on television. Agriculture and pharmaceutical companies have an overwhelming influence on the information that reaches the public (especially through the media, even if the articles are written by "reputable doctors").
What is even more important to understand is that our physicians are even more highly influenced by pharmaceutical marketing than we are. Medical school curriculum and continuing education are prepared and delivered by “Big Pharma” … yep, medical school CURRICULUM is marketed. What this means is that your doctor has been trained to use patented chemical medicines to treat your symptoms, doctors have not been trained to recognize how the daily actions you make lead to the development of your symptoms nor has your doctor been trained to help you ‘walk in the opposite direction’ of developing a disease. Doctors are trained to diagnose and treat disease, they are not trained in the maintenance of health and prevention of illness …it is that simple.
3.Thirdly it is very helpful to learn how to distill the truth out of nutritional statistics. There is so much new research being reported every year. Studies now show that there are antioxidants in substances like coffee, chocolate and wine. These are 3 addictive indulgent foods that people become highly emotional about, so I am going to ‘pick on them’ because they are a good choice for deeper reflection.
We know that antioxidants are good for you and vital to optimal health. However, it is not rational to assume that because coffee, chocolate and wine contain antioxidants they are actually good for you to consume regularly or in large quantities.
Let’s put it in perspective, saying you should enjoy coffee, chocolate and wine on a regular basis (or whole grains, fructose, or anything else that causes systemic inflammation for you) is like saying: “75% of the time my boyfriend beats me to a pulp, and 25% of the time he is nice and kind. Therefore I should spend as much time with him as possible, because 25% of the time I spend with him is good for my health.”
Or how about this quantitative example: red wine contains resveratrol which is an antioxidant found in grape skins and is helpful in reducing cholesterol in the blood. To effect the benefits of resveratrol in red wine you would need to drink 60 liters in one sitting. (Is that even humanly possible???)
If your body is not balanced, then consuming coffee, chocolate and wine regularly can be even more deleterious to you than it could ever have a chance of being healthful ... because all 3 agitate the adrenals, disrupt blood sugar regulation and congest the liver.
By educating yourself as to the way the body works and the way nutrients work in the body, you can develop a talent for discerning the truth out of all the “food hype.”
4. Are you upset, irritated or agitated because I just ‘attacked’ one of your favorite foods? Is there a food that you feel that you can’t live without? Is there a food that, if it were abjured from your diet, you would feel as if all the joy had gone out of life? If you are emotional over food, take it as a warning. Something is amiss.
I am going to stick with the familiar trio of coffee, chocolate and wine. Your emotional dependency on coffee, chocolate and wine can be due to a physiological imbalance. Adrenal insufficiency can cause you to crave coffee and chocolate in the morning and around 2-3 in the afternoon. Magnesium deficiency or a deficiency of the amino acid base for endorphins can cause chocolate cravings. A deficiency in amino acids that are the base for tranquilizing neurotransmitters can cause cravings for wine (other types of alcohol or marijuana) in the evenings.
Let’s look a little closer at chocolate. It gives a rush that floods the brain in endorphin-like feel good radiance. Let’s say you are a person that has low stomach acid and cannot properly break down protein into amino acids. Therefore you have a deficiency in the amino acids that the brain uses to make the endorphin neurotransmitters. Everyone needs to feel ‘love.’ That’s what endorphins do, they enable us to feel good. But, if you have low stomach acid, no matter how much protein you eat, your body is not going to be able to break it down and create the building blocks for endorphins. So, what do you do to get that ‘feel good feeling?’ Crave and eat chocolate like a fiend. This doesn’t do anything for you nutritionally, and in fact it can cause big problems with blood sugar regulation, adrenal and liver function. What it does do is fill that gap of feeling loved. That doesn’t mean that it is the appropriate way to feel loved. It is just a very shabby band-aid.
There are many other foods that can affect us emotionally. These are also the most common allergens and also foods that people get addicted to or crave relentlessly when the body is imbalanced: cow’s milk, chicken eggs, peanuts, soy, nightshades (like white potatoes) and grains.
If you have a food ‘addiction’ or even have the subtlest inclination toward defensiveness over your choice of ‘healthy’ foods then it can be hard to imagine life without your food crutch(es). I speak from experience: when you are in a state of imbalance it is literally impossible to imagine what balanced good health feels like. True wellbeing is something you have to experience. No words can express how ‘good’ you can feel once you heal the digestive system and begin to eat specifically for your own individual biochemistry.
Most of us have been exposed to food allergens from the womb. When this happens, if you do not identify food sensitivities and adjust accordingly, you will always feel bad, you will never have a base line experience of what true wellness feels like…this means that even when you were a vivacious child, full of vim and vigor, you still were not experiencing your full potential.
Nothing can describe what it feels like to remove food sensitivities from the diet … the sense of wellness is simply inexpressible.
Don’t you want to know what that feels like, to really and truly feel good in a solid and tangible way that is long lasting and will not deteriorate? Well carry on my friend and continue to expand your awareness about the body, food and nutrition.
I suggest perusing the following resources before you begin your journey in Nutritional Healing:
WEB ARTICLES:
General
Top 10 Worst Nutritional & Dietary Mistakes People Make
The Long Hollow Tube: A Primer on the Digestive System
Food Sensitivities
Cholesterol and Cardiovascular Disease
Dangers of Statin Drugs: What You Haven’t Been Told About Popular Cholesterol-Lowering Medicines
Cholesterol is an Anti-Inflammatory
Grass Fed Meat
Health Benefits of Grass Farming
BOOKS:
Arden Andersen
Natasha Campbell McBride
Mary G. Enig
Michael Pollan
Natasha Campbell McBride
MOVIES:
Eric Schlosser
Jame Colquhoun and Laurentine ten Bosch
Jason Vale
Lathe Poland
Please contact me with any questions. I look forward to working with you and bringing about even greater wellness for you!
Vanessa Hendley
DNM, NTP, LMT
R A T E S:
Nutritional Balancing fees are a combination of the cost of your blood work requisition plus the analysis fee.
Blood work requisitions vary in price. The Comprehensive Metabolic Panel + Thyroid is $398.
The Initial Assessment & Analysis {in-house or distance} is $375.00
Follow-up Consultations {in-house or distance} are $187.50
Cancellation Policy:
24-hour notice must be given. The full rate of the session is required if 24-hour notice is not given. Please have regard for fellow patients experiencing discomfort and courteously cancel at least 24 hours prior to your session so that other people have a chance to plan for and use your valuable appointment.
Disclaimer: All information obtained from this website is for educational purposes only. Each participant assumes full personal responsibility for the use or misuse of information retrieved from this site, implied or otherwise. Participants should consult with their qualified health care provider regarding implementation of concepts or information gained from this website. The information on this website should not be construed as medical advice.
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