About...

Personal Note:

I grew up in a family where fresh garlic, onions, herbal tea, dried fruit, roots, spices, etc. were utilized to feel better and to stay healthy. We were encouraged to drink water, stretch, take a nap and eat before reaching for over-the-counter medicine. We were also encouraged to be curious, explore & appreciate what are now called "STEM" subjects.

So it makes a sort of sense that I ended up studying the hows & whys behind food and nutrient effects on the body (including the brain). Over 6,000 peer reviewed articles in scientific journals now support my grandmothers' uses of garlic. My husband and children would say that I talk more about turmeric & vitamin D than garlic these days, but they each have their own purposes.

Practice Notes:

Nutrition is both simple and complex. Here are some principles I keep in mind so that you can concentrate on you:

• Bio-individual Approach - Different humans need different things. We develop insufficiencies in different nutrients depending upon our ability, or lack there of, not just to consume them but to absorb, transport, activate, utilize & excrete them. We may also require extra depending upon our activities, stress levels, environmental exposures & even genetics.

• Functional Approach - Just because a nutrient is hanging out in our blood does not mean our bodies have enough. When possible it is better to test whether a reaction that uses a nutrient is running rather than to simply test for its presence.

• Integrated & Wholistic Approach - "The knee bone's connected to the thigh bone; the thigh bone's connected to the hip bone..." but more relevant here, the digestive system hands off to the cardio-vascular system; the cardiovascular-system delivers to the control & messaging systems as well as directly to all of the other systems which also interact among one another. We cannot look at any system in a vacuum. Plus we have to consider each person as a whole -- living an external life in an external environment affected by stress, sleep, chemical exposure, emotions, exercise, etc.

• Many Contributors --> 1 Health Problem 1 Insufficiency --> Many Manifestations - There is rarely one thing which "causes" Example-Disease-X; there might be more than a dozen possible factors often jointly contributing and/or exacerbating Example-Disease-X of which more than half a dozen may apply to you. There's a better chance of relief if we address more of the upstream factors and specifically the ones most likely to apply to you. On the flip side, a contributing factor may cause a wide range of discomforts; so, we want to consider seemingly unrelated complaints together in case there is a deficiency that can be a common root to several -- one doesn't necessarily need six supplements for six symptoms.

• An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure - Strengthening roots and stabilizing foundations is not just the work of getting healthy; it is the work of staying healthy. Mitigating the health problems of today in this way has the side effect of decreasing the risk of new health problems down the line.

That said, ultimately, we both need to be active partners to provide your body with what it needs to do its job to regain & maintain health.