by Adam Killpartrick, DC, CNS
I had a patient the other day talking about feeling lethargic, needing to lose weight and generally not feeling that great. When I looked back at her intake, which was from some time ago, she indicated that she drank two diet sodas per day. When I inquired about the soda, she said she still drinks that much soda, then asked, ‘...but what does soda have to do with fatigue and losing weight?’. The answer may be common sense to us but not to her. From that one question I succeeded in opening up an incredible conversation on foundational health, nutritional gaps and the connection to her symptoms.
So after her appointment, I looked at the intake again, it was entirely geared toward symptoms and conditions. I failed to dig down into her ‘foundation’, including dietary habits, cravings she has, digestive and physiologic responses to specific foods and it certainly didn’t create a strong connection to her existing symptoms.
The soda, by far, wasn’t the root cause for her original symptoms, but it served as one of the many ‘cracks in her foundation’. Upon opening up that discussion it turned out that she consumed varied ‘boxed’ foods, most of which say ‘Lean’ or ‘Watchers’ on them. Then we begin talking about digestion and the response her body has to food and she indicated that she needed to take between 6 and 8 antidiarrheal medications to get through the day. Obviously my approach to this patient’s care plan shifted a bit from strictly musculoskeletal therapies to a broader, more integrative approach for the arthritic joint discomfort she was experiencing.
When it came to this patient, I simply put the cart before the horse. I started chasing down her symptoms rather than first assessing her foundational status and identifying the root cause of her symptoms. And as much as I preach that healthcare providers shouldn’t fall into the ‘chasing symptoms’ mentality, its exactly what I did. But its not entirely my fault (I’m more than happy to deflect blame) as when I reviewed my intake, it was completely devoid of foundational information and focused exclusively on symptoms.
This is exactly why I’ve been so excited about the ‘Foundational Solutions’ dietary intake that INNATE has put together. It provides key information about your patients’ everyday habits and yields clinically relevant information to help guide a foundational approach that can ultimately be used in tandem with the therapeutic protocol your patient needs to be on.
Since this patient presented in my office and made me aware of the gaping holes in my intake, I’ve refined my intake and included the Foundational Solutions Dietary Intake as a standard form. This is serving two purposes for me so far. First, its providing me with that key information I referred to earlier and secondly, it allows me to open up a discussion with patients that educates them on the role and the connection that foundational health has relative to their symptoms.
So after her appointment, I looked at the intake again, it was entirely geared toward symptoms and conditions. I failed to dig down into her ‘foundation’, including dietary habits, cravings she has, digestive and physiologic responses to specific foods and it certainly didn’t create a strong connection to her existing symptoms.
The soda, by far, wasn’t the root cause for her original symptoms, but it served as one of the many ‘cracks in her foundation’. Upon opening up that discussion it turned out that she consumed varied ‘boxed’ foods, most of which say ‘Lean’ or ‘Watchers’ on them. Then we begin talking about digestion and the response her body has to food and she indicated that she needed to take between 6 and 8 antidiarrheal medications to get through the day. Obviously my approach to this patient’s care plan shifted a bit from strictly musculoskeletal therapies to a broader, more integrative approach for the arthritic joint discomfort she was experiencing.
When it came to this patient, I simply put the cart before the horse. I started chasing down her symptoms rather than first assessing her foundational status and identifying the root cause of her symptoms. And as much as I preach that healthcare providers shouldn’t fall into the ‘chasing symptoms’ mentality, its exactly what I did. But its not entirely my fault (I’m more than happy to deflect blame) as when I reviewed my intake, it was completely devoid of foundational information and focused exclusively on symptoms.
This is exactly why I’ve been so excited about the ‘Foundational Solutions’ dietary intake that INNATE has put together. It provides key information about your patients’ everyday habits and yields clinically relevant information to help guide a foundational approach that can ultimately be used in tandem with the therapeutic protocol your patient needs to be on.
Since this patient presented in my office and made me aware of the gaping holes in my intake, I’ve refined my intake and included the Foundational Solutions Dietary Intake as a standard form. This is serving two purposes for me so far. First, its providing me with that key information I referred to earlier and secondly, it allows me to open up a discussion with patients that educates them on the role and the connection that foundational health has relative to their symptoms.
by Adam Killpartrick, DC, CNS
This is less than ideal and the least we can do as responsible liver owners is to throw a little love the liver’s way. There are many strategies to accomplish this but providing foundational support for the liver can easily be approached from a proactive standpoint and is a great place to start. Two natural compounds, Nacetylcysteine (NAC) and milk thistle, lend outstanding and much needed foundational liver support.*
Let's quickly review, there are two phases to liver detoxification. Phase One converts fat soluble toxicants to intermediary metabolites, which are actually more toxic and reactive than their predecessors. Phase II then converts these toxic intermediaries into water soluble metabolites to be excreted.
The six main pathways of liver detoxification to support and nourish include: Sulfation, Glucuronidation, Glutathione conjugation, Acetylation, Amino acid conjugation, and Methylation. Sulfation, for example, requires sulfur-containing amino acids. Nacetylcysteine (NAC) contains critical sulfur containing molecules, which is why it is considered one of the beneficial nutrients you can take to support detox pathways.* In fact, NAC has both a direct and indirect role in detoxification.* Directly, this nutrient supports healthy expression of the Cytochrome P450 enzymes.* Indirectly, NAC supports healthy levels of intracellular glutathione, thus supporting healthy antioxidant levels.*
Milk thistle is another, perhaps one of the best known supportive botanicals for optimal liver
function. Again, the role of this botanical is multifaceted as well. Milk thistle holds tremendous antioxidant potential which is key in detoxification.* Milk thistle is known to provide antioxidant support, healthy membrane integrity and intercellular protein synthesis, healthy levels of fibrotic activity, and inflammatory and immune support.*
Some of the other great botanicals you can use to provide foundational liver support would be dandelion, schisandra and turmeric. Combining those with cruciferous vegetables makes for an airtight strategy for supporting and throwing some love over to the liver. What are some other strategies you use to show your liver some love?
It begins with simple changes...a blog with your patients in mind
Monday, August 11, 2014
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by Sheila Landis
Nutritional Therapist in PortlandThere are an endless number of quick fix options for detoxing, all promising to provide you immediate results. That is your first red flag. Stressing your body into change through crash diets or improper detox programs can actually leave you in worse health than you started. Skip the hype and choose healthy, lasting SUCCESS!
In an ideal world you would limit your exposure to external toxins and support your body’s natural ability to remove internal waste, focusing on a diet high in fresh, organic fruits and vegetables, whole gluten free grains like brown rice, quinoa, millet and others. You wouldn’t consume foods that over stimulate insulin like caffeine, alcohol, refined grains and sugars. You wouldn’t ingest toxins like food additives, food coloring, pesticide residues, hormones and antibiotics from non-organic animal based products. You wouldn’t inhale and absorb contaminants in the form of cleaners, air fresheners, perfumes and lotions. You would rest daily for 7 to 8 hours in a dark room without a multitude of electronic devices interrupting your natural internal electrical communications. You wouldn’t eat late, you would drink plenty of clean filtered water from a glass or aluminum vessel AND, you would exercise – daily.
If this is not you, you may have some residual build-up internally that is calling to you with symptoms. Everything from migraines to IBS can have their roots in less than ideal food and lifestyle choices that have created imbalances and now, symptoms.
Getting your mind in the game is the only way to make change successful and sustained. You must have a strong enough WHY to make change. Make your list of WHY. When you are ready to focus on them, think about making change. Once you have decided that you are ready for change, incorporate as many of these options into your world as possible and reap the benefits that even simple changes can make.
- Don’t eat late – you hit full detox mode approximately 8 hours after your final meal. Don’t shorten the natural defenses by eating late.
- Start everyday with a mug of warm lemon water – you detox until you eat again. Aid the elimination of wastes with the lemon water before breakfast. (The lemon alkalizes the body and encourages the release of bile, one of your natural disposal tools)
- Drink at least 60 ozs of clean filtered water from a non-BPA container every day – water aids the removal of waste. Plastics containing BPA mimic estrogen and mess up your hormones. NEVER reuse soft plastic drinking containers.
- Don’t eat hot food from plastic containers or worse yet, microwave your food in plastic – Heating plastic releases toxins that leach into your food.
- Move – walk, run, swim, yoga, you pick it. Why? Part of your detox system (lymph) has no pump and requires muscle contraction to move the waste and toxins toward an exit.
- Minimize insulin-spiking foods – alcohol, caffeine, sugar, refined grains – insulin is your storage hormone. The more insulin the more storage.
- Minimize your exposure to toxins – toxins are encased in mucous by the body and stored in fat. They appear in extra layers on your waist, thighs and hips.
- Eat real food – the only place you get vitamins and minerals essential to maintaining metabolic function and hormone balance is from fresh food – fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and sea vegetables. Free-range meats and whole grains are a second source.
- Add some probiotics – these are natural healers for the gut. Found in capsule form and fermented foods. Fermented foods include yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kim chi and kombucha. Stick to the plain yogurts and add fruit to sweeten.
- Sleep – your time to detox and rejuvenate. Don’t short yourself here. That equates to 7-8 hours nightly.
- De-stress – stress is now considered the number one cause of disease. Keep your body in a state of panic and it can’t perform its needed functions to stay healthy. The term, “is it worth dying for” should come to mind here.
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by Adam Killpartrick, DC, CNSChiropractor and Nutritional Consultant
We all know the negative impact that chronic stress has on the
body and how it can create, as Dr. Erin Stokes says, ‘cracks in the foundation’
of our health. I recently read a bit of fascinating insight into how stress has
a direct impact on digestion and how this can ultimately weaken our
foundation.
As I perused the latest issue of Emerson Ecologics’ “Element”
Quarterly Newsletter, I read a great article that outlines the connection
between stress and decreased levels of secretory IgA (SIgA). The article, which cites sources from The
Journal of Behavioral Medicine and the Annals of Clinical Biochemistry,
outlines the response to intense or long-standing stress and elevated cortisol
levels and the subsequent depressed levels of SIgA. Obviously, this impacts foundational health
as SIgA plays a critical role in mucosal immunity and is often referred to as
the immune system’s first line of defense. When SIgA is impaired, this has a
downstream effect on the digestive system’s functionality and provides an opportunity
for potentially unhealthy pathogens to thrive.
Simply put, this is why higher concentration Ashwagandha
extracts such as Sensoril and other adaptogenics such as Holy Basil are
included in many GI protocols; to support the adrenal connection to gut
health*. Oregano, Carpylic Acid and probiotics are wonderful options that can
be applied simultaneously to support a balance of gut bacteria while turmeric
and boswellia can support a healthy inflammatory response locally in the gut*.
Nourishing the adrenals while optimizing the microbiome might
end up being the magic combination for the stressed out, digestively impaired
patient who has ‘tried everything’ to feel better.
This scenario of heightened stress and susceptibility to
digestive imbalance is all too often observed in so many of our practices. This
is exactly why we might want to first look to supporting a healthy stress
response in order to provide the best possible support to the GI tract.
* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food
and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure
or prevent any disease.
© 2010 Innate Response
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