Gastrointestinal Issues * Autoimmune * Endocrine * Blood Sugar Issues * Fertility * Fatigue * Men's Health

Are you suffering from a stubborn health problem that wonÃ?¢??t go away no matter what you try? Or perhaps the medications and treatments youÃ?¢??re taking arenÃ?¢??t actually getting at the root cause of your illness-but you want something that will?  If you feel this way, or know someone that does, consider some important facts.

• Medical Research has shown that sensitivities to foods and food-chemicals can cause an inflammatory response that can lead to a wide array of painful symptoms and chronic health problems.
• If foods and additives in your diet are involved in your illness, whatever medications you take will ultimately fail because they only mask the symptoms. They do not treat the underlying cause of the symptoms. And is too often the case, many medications have side effects that can lead to other health problems.
• If food sensitivities are causing your illness and you do not properly address them, you could end up suffering for years, spending thousands of dollars for treatments that will never produce the relief you desire.

Conditions and Symptoms Often Associated with Food and Chemical Sensitivities:

Millions of Americans suffer from food sensitivities. Many other uncomfortable lingering health problems are often directly related to specific immune reactions to the foods we eat. Even so called Ã?¢??healthyÃ?¢?Ã? foods such as salmon, chicken, apples, spinach, blueberries, or garlic can provoke symptoms in sensitive individuals.    For example one of my patients that has multiple sclerosis always feels worse when she has blueberries!  So it can be anything - not just the evil processed foods.

• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
• Migraines, Cluster Headaches
• Fibromyalgia
• Crohn's disease
• Ulcerative Colitis
• Celiac Disease
• Chronic Diarrhea
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD, Acid Reflux Heartburn)
• Autism, AspergerÃ?¢??s and other Spectrum Disorders
• ADD/ADHD
• Chronic Sinusitis
• Problem Eczema
• Weight Imbalances
• Chronic Fatigue
• Brain Fog

Symptoms that are often related to food sensitivities:

• Diarrhea, Abdominal Pain, Bloating, Distention, Gas, sometimes Nausea & Vomiting
• Heartburn or Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
• Migraine Headaches and Headaches other than Migraine
• Muscle or Joint Pain, Aching, or Stiffness
• General Malaise (feeling lousy), Fatigue, Sleepiness During the Day
• Restlessness, Irritability, Depression, Anxiety, Mood Swings
• Sinus Pain, Runny Nose, Stuffy Nose, Post Nasal Drip, Sore throat
• Skin conditions such as Eczema and Dermatitis

The first thing a food sensitivity suffer needs to do is identify their trigger foods and food-chemicals. In the past, this has been easier said than done for many reasons:

• Food sensitivity reactions may be delayed by hours or even days after ingestion. Even if you suspect food sensitivities, it is not likely you would consider that the headache you have right now was caused by something you ate yesterday.
• Food sensitivities are dose-dependent. This means a small amount or moderate amount of a reactive food may not cause any noticeable symptoms, but a larger amount does.   Also a small amount of a few low-reactive foods can trigger a symptoms whereas one or two of those foods eaten together do not trigger a symptom.
• Reactive foods vary widely from person to person, even if they have the same symptoms.
• There are usually many reactive foods and food-chemicals.   Sometimes it can be a preservative or food coloring in ones toothpaste that is contributing to a symptoms such as migraines.
• There are many different types of reactions that can trigger food sensitivities.   Most alternative MDs or NDs measure an IgG test but this is only one Type of immune reaction.    There may also be non-immune responses such as a histamine intolerance.   There may also be intestinal allergies (IgE) which will not get picked up on any test - even an IgE allergy test.

The Best Food Sensitivity Testing Currently Available

In my practice for stubborn cases that I cannot treat by using typical diet changes, supplements, acupuncture and herbs I use the most advanced form of food sensitivity testing know as Mediator Release Testing by a company known as Signet Labs.   The protocol for the diet is known as Lifestyle Eating and Performance (LEAP).

Fortunately LEAP-MRT can help you quickly overcome even the most troublesome food sensitivity related problems. LEAP-MRT includes a patented blood test called MRT (Mediator Release Test) which accounts for most types of food sensitivity reactions.    But it is how someone trained in food sensitivities (loss of oral tolerance) interprets the blood test results that make the program work.   It is sort of like a road map.  It can help get you to where you want to go, but if you don't know how to drive it is of no use.

One of the ways this test differs from others besides its outstanding reproducibility and accuracy is that we create a diet based on the foods you are low reactive to.  Most other food sensitivity tests will tell you to to avoid certain foods.   Sometimes that works very well.   But my experience is that for stubborn cases we need to get rid of all reactive foods and only eat foods that one has a high tolerance to.  Then symptoms disappear, inflammation decreases and people report feeling more energized!   The LEAP diet is your personalized anti-inflammatory diet!

I will help you create a health eating program based on your test results.   We expect that within the first phase of the diet (7-10 days) you should have a significant reduction in symptoms.   We work together through each phase adding in foods you show a low immune response to.   It is sort of like a scientific endeavor that we do together.    The brilliance of this program is that you get to experience the effect food has on your well being.   In the future after going through the LEAP program you should be able to connect symptoms with some food you ate.   It is not only making you healthy, it is also provides a lifelong education.

Yours In Health,

George Mandler CNS LDN LicAc

Chinese Medicine is a complete health-care system that can treat a wide range of ailments, but is also a powerful adjunct to modern medicine. Many people use it as their first line of preventative care in addition to conventional medicine to stay healthy while some come to us for solutions where conventional treatments fail. Assabet Valley Natural Health offers several Asian healing art therapies combined with functional nutrition to manage a wide range of chronic and acute conditions. The focus of our practice is in Digestive Wellness, fatigue and Maternal Care. Besides our specialties we also treat a variety of other issues such as pain management, injuries, and GYN disorders. All of our treatments are patient centered and based in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Functional Medicine. Our goal is to provide you with the highest level of care to make you feel better as quickly as possible. Please contact us with further questions.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is the insertion of fine needles in specific points that are known to affect seemingly unrelated areas of the body. The needles rarely cause pain and most often patients do not know they have been inserted. Acupuncture is excellent at treating a wide range of conditions and diseases. Read more here...

Functional Nutrition

Poor dietary choices are one of the leading causes of modern diseases. Unfortunately we are so overloaded with conflicting dietary advice from the media that many are left confused. It is impossible to know what is best when one study says that meat causes cancer, another says that carbohydrates cause obesity and yet another study states that we need to limit our fat intake. We also hear that vitamins do no good, then the following month we are told that vitamins prevent disease. How can there be so much conflicting information? It's difficult to even know what to eat, let alone what diet will best suit your personal needs. We will help you make proper dietary and supplement choices that are right for your body and will help you sort out what works best for you. Nutrition is individualized, and there is no one right diet or supplement that works for everybody. Almost all diseases can be helped by proper nutrition as food plays a major role in turning on and off certain genes. Read more here...

Chinese Herbal Medicine

Chinese Herbal Medicine is an incredibly sophisticated system that predates acupuncture and has evolved over the past few thousand years. It is a powerful medicine that can treat a wide variety of symptoms and complaints where very specific combination of herbs are carefully prescribed to match an individual's needs. Only the highest quality herbs are used and they additionally tested for contaminants. Read more here...

Acupuncture has gained a lot of press over the past decade for its role in helping couples conceive. A well known study has shown that acupuncture before and after an IVF transfer dramatically increases the success rate. However acupuncture can be used for much more than just support for IVF. At Integrative Wellness we help a couple not only conceive which is the singular goal of ART, but we want women to have a healthy pregnancy and create healthy babies.

Often a couple cannot conceive because there is an underlying physiological imbalance. These imbalances may be adrenal issues, autoimmune related, hormonal feedback imbalances, uncontrolled stress among many others. By correcting the underlying imbalance with acupuncture, herbs,  and functional nutrition a woman does not only get pregnant she also increases the likelihood of a healthier pregnancy, postpartum and offspring.

What infertility conditions can you successfully treat?

• Thin Uterine Lining - Click here to read Acupuncture can help increase blood flow to the uterus and help with implantation.

• Poor Egg Quality - This is especially true if you have a regular cycle. Click here to read about improving poor egg quality.

• Recurring Miscarriages - Chinese Medicine has 2000 years of written history of miscarriage prevention. Miscarriages from chromosomal defects can be corrected with a 3-4 month course of treatment before TTC again. Miscarriages due to progesterone deficiency often show up as menstrual irregularities and are often corrected with acupuncture and herbs. Click here to read about recurring miscarriages and what can be done to prevent future occurrences.

• Elevated FSH - Sometimes this is identified as low ovarian reserve. Similarly to poor egg quality from a Chinese Medicine perspective we aren't concerned about the diagnosis. FSH is not a problem, but more of a symptom of a problem. If there is a regular menstrual cycle this is an excellent prognosis.

• PCOS, Amenorrhea or Anovulatory cycles - First we need to bring the cycle into balance. As long as there has been non-medicated cycles with regularity Chinese medicine can often correct these hormonal imbalances. The Western approach for PCOS is to use Clomid or gonadatropins (Follistim, Gonadal-F) to stimulate follicle development, however for some women this can cause more imbalances. However Chinese medicine is a much better approach because women with untreated PCOS have a much higher risk of miscarriage. Chinese medicine can help correct the hormonal imbalance of high androgen production that goes along with PCOS which then allows Western ART methods to be used more safely. Click here to read about Chinese Medicine and PCOS.

• Unexplained Infertility - Most women often have regular cycles and the men have 'normal' sperm analysis with "Unexplained Infertility". The word 'idiopathy' or 'unexplained' are not used in Chinese Medicine. There are Chinese medicine pathologies in these cases that are sub-clinical in Western diagnostic capabilities. Acupuncture, herbal medicine and nutrition can unequivocally enhance outcomes in these cases.

What conditions require Western Medical Intervention along with Complementary Medicine?

• Pelvic adhesions - Endometrial adhesion on the tubes sometimes require surgery to remove them. Polyps sometimes need to be removed surgically. Also hydrosalpinx which is a fluid filled tube is best treated with Western Medicine. However in any pelvic adhesion Western medicine will not address the underlying inflammatory metabolic imbalance. Therefore it is important to use acupuncture, herbs and/or nutrition to balance the body to prevent future adhesions from forming.

• Advanced Maternal Age - The idea of advanced maternal age is a conglomeration of myth and reality. This needs to be looked at on an individual basis rather than just a cut-off of 35 years. Just because a women is say 43 doesn't mean they cannot conceive and need a donor egg. A donor egg is certainly the fastest way with a 65-70% success rate, however Chinese Medicine and nutrition along with ART can go a long way to help a women conceive with her own eggs.

• Late Menarche w/Lack of Natural Cycles & Amenorrhea - If a woman cannot have a cycle without birth control it is best to use Western ART technology. However Chinese Medicine and nutritional intervention should be used to support IVF.

• Other less common conditions: Severe fibroids impinging the uterus or ovaries; Congenital abnormalities such as a bicornuate uterus; Antiphospholipid antibodies; Repeated chromosomal abnormalities not responding to complementary medicine require specialized IVF; Women with a history of thrombophilias should use both Western care for monitoring and complementary care for treatment;

Environmental factors can also play a role in infertility. But I also believe that environmental factors play a role in a large percentage of our modern diseases. Here is a great website regarding environmental issues and fertility: http://www.chem-tox.com/infertility/.

If you have any questions call the office 978-461-2001 and I will be happy to meet with you for a free consult about your specific fertility challenges.