Seasons Patient, Kathy Burns: “It is a whole new me!”

“My mother has osteoarthritis. When I began to hurt and swell, I just thought it had to be genetics – thanks, mom! I sought treatment for my pain so I went to a General Practitioner. As the pain progressed, I went to a Rheumatologist. The pain continued to grow and so did the amount of prescription pain medication I was taking. I was on my way to getting hooked on pain medicine, and I knew there had to be another way.”

“I asked my physical therapist about alternative ways to treat my pain. That’s when she told me that she was a patient of Dr. Nathan Goodyear at Seasons Wellness Clinic and referred me to him. I made an appointment with Dr. Goodyear and I’ll be honest, I was pleasantly surprised. Dr. Goodyear never herded me in and out like cattle. I would come in his office and we would talk, actually discuss things going on with my health. I could tell that he genuinely cared.”

“Dr. Goodyear designed a custom plan to get my health back on track. Throughout my visits we did blood work, testing, detoxification, and I had B vitamins through IV. Along with seeing Dr. Goodyear, I also saw Valerie Costanza, the Dietitian at Seasons. She taught me what and how to eat. And she taught me what would agree with my body. And as I began to follow what she was telling me, I saw almost immediate results. The swelling in my hands began to go down and my knees stopped aching. My shoulders and my lower back are almost pain-free. It is amazing what the right nutrition can do for you. And as an added plus, I lost weight!”

“I have been feeling better for 8 months now and it is just wonderful. It is a whole new me and a whole new way of life! I wanted to share my story because I know there are others out there that hurt just like I did. There are middle-aged women out there that think their pain is just a part of growing old. But you don’t have to put up with it. You don’t have to take pain medication to feel good. There is another way!” – Kathy Burns

 

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Our goal is to restore our patients’ health by offering a more holistic approach along with cutting edge advancements in traditional medicine all in a comfortable environment. We are dedicated to providing individualized treatment and improving our patient’s quality of life by providing the best complementary and integrative medical treatment available. Our mission is to transform lives, one patient at a time. For more information about becoming a patient at Seasons Wellness Clinic, visit our New Patient Page or contact our Patient Relations Specialists at 318-255-3223.

Healthy Woman Wellness Challenge 2012

Need inspiration? Information? Accountability? Join some of North Louisiana’s top physicians, nutritionists and personal trainers for the 2012 Healthy Woman Wellness Challenge. Each FREE session offers you the opportunity to accomplish your nutrition and fitness goals for the new year. The reward? A healthier you, goodies, door prizes, and much more! This year we have added a 30 minutes workout to the end of each session. So bring your water bottles and let’s get going!

Healthy Woman Wellness Challenge Session #1

The first session of the 2012 Healthy Woman Wellness Challenge will be held on Tuesday, January 10th from 5:30pm – 6:30 pm at the Lincoln Parish Library Community Room. We will be conducting optional weigh-ins and measurements at the end of each session so please come prepared to exercise and dress comfortably.

Our first session will include:

• Meal plans
• Strength workouts
• Recipes
• Time Management | Making time for yourself
• Prepping for our 5k run with Maryanne Smith
• Optional weigh-in and measurements (5 – 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 – 7 p.m.)

To register, you must first join our Healthy Woman program and then click the link to RSVP. Please note: you must RSVP for each session after you have joined.

Healthy Woman Wellness Challenge Session #2

Join us for the second session of the 2012 Healthy Woman Wellness Challenge on Tuesday January 24, 2012 from 5:30 PM to 6:30 at the Lincoln Parish Library Community Room. Don’t forget we will be exercising and doing weigh-ins at the end of this session. So, come prepared to workout and dress comfortably. You can still attend this event even if you are not participating in the Healthy Woman Wellness Challenge.

The focus for this session will be:

• “Knees, Knees, Knees!” | Orthopaedic Surgeon, Major Blair, M.D., will discuss ways to avoid injury while exercising.
• “Getting down to the basics: Nutrition” | Registered Dietician, Jessica Hood, RD, LDN, will give nutrition advice and tips on staying on track with your diet.

You must be a member of the Healthy Woman program to participate in this event. If you have not joined already, click here. Membership is free, and the benefits last a lifetime. You must RSVP for each session of the Healthy Woman Wellness Challenge that you would like to attend.

Healthy Woman Wellness Challenge Session #3

Our 3rd session of the 2012 Healthy Woman Wellness Challenge will take place on Tuesday February 7, 2012 from 5:30 PM to 6:30 at the Lincoln Parish Library Community Room. Don’t forget, we will be working out and breaking a sweat for the last 30 minutes of the session. We will also be doing weigh-ins and measurements. So, dress comfortable!

The focus for this session will be:

• “Hello, dont forget about your heart!” | Interventional Cardiologist, Michael Langiulli, M.D.
• Heart Health Recipe Fun

To join Healthy Woman or RSVP to this event, click here. Membership is free, and the benefits last a lifetime.

Healthy Woman Wellness Challenge Session #4

Session #4 will be our final session of the Healthy Woman Wellness Challenge. This session will take place on Tuesday February 21, 2012 from 5:30 PM to 6:30  at the Lincoln Parish Library Community Room. 

Our focus for this session will be:

• Staying on track… You CAN do it!
• Accountability = Stability

To RSVP for this session or to Join Healthy Woman, click here.

For more information about the sponsors of the 2012 Healthy Woman Wellness Challenge, please visit their websites.

• Northern Louisiana Medical Center 
• Body Back by Maryanne Smith  or on Facebook
• Seasons Wellness Clinic and Seasons – The Spa or on Facebook and Twitter
• Sharon Jackson’s Personal Training Services or on Facebook

Click here to see out photos from a previous Healthy Woman Wellness Challenge 5K!

 

Nibble-On-This: Best Food Phone Apps!

With the convenience of today’s technology, there is no excuse for poor eating habits. From recipes and food journals to menu planners, you can find just about anything you need online. There are hundreds of apps that can be downloaded to your phone or iPad to help with any dietary needs or health plan. Some of my favorites include:

Is The Flu Shot As Good As Gold?

Ah, fall! The crisp, cool mornings, the return of football, and the sweeping changes of color found throughout the landscape. Fall is a welcome change after the long, hot Louisiana summer. With all of the wonderful changes that fall brings, there are a few unwelcome visitors. Just as we move past the summer heat, fall ushers in the cold and flu season.

Recently, I overhead a good friend of mine say that the flu vaccine is “as good as gold” and that as far as results, “the proof is in the pudding.” Not long after that, I saw an ad campaign for the flu vaccine with the tagline: “the value of wellness.”

So, I have to pose this question. With the upcoming cold and flu season, what is the best way to protect my family? How should I treat or even prevent the flu? Is the flu vaccine “as good as gold” and is the “proof” really “in the pudding?”

Today is the era of evidence-based medicine.  So, to answer these questions let’s see what the evidence shows.

Is the flu vaccine “as good as gold?”

The answer is no. While not surprising to me, I’m sure this comes as a surprise to you!  Let me show you the evidence.

A Cochrane analysis, “Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults,” published in 2010 looked at over 70,000 adults ages 16-65 from 1966 to 2010. The objective was defined as: “identify, retrieve and assess all studies evaluating the effects of vaccines against influenza in healthy adults.”

The results may surprise you.

• Flu vaccine was found to be a very poor match (1%). Each year, the 3-strain flu vaccine is created in attempt to match the up coming viral strains.
• Flu vaccine only had a modest effect on reducing flu symptoms and days missed.
• No evidence was found that the flu vaccine affects complications. Complications were defined as pneumonia, hospitalization, and TRANSMISSION.

In my opinion, if you are a healthy adult, the flu vaccine is a waste of your time. But don’t worry; there are many scientifically proven preventive and therapeutic treatments available.  The problem is most are labeled “natural” or “alternative” so you may not have heard of their benefits.

Vitamin D

Hippocrates said, “Whoever wishes to investigate medicine properly should proceed thus: in the first place to consider the seasons of the year.” Vitamin D levels show an inverse relationship to the cold/flu incidence.

 Cannell JJ et al., in “Epidemic influenza and vitamin D,” showed that vitamin D levels reach their lowest levels during the winter months, often dropping by 24%. Below in “Epidemic influenza and vitamin D”, 2,000 IU daily versus 800 IU and placebo was shown to significantly reduce the incident of the cold/flu.

In addition to being preventative, vitamin D is active against ongoing infection. A recent study in the Journal of Virology, revealed that vitamin D has anti-viral properties. Because of its function in the innate immune system, vitamin D, a proven anti-viral, was suggested to be a primary method of treatment.

Probiotics

That’s right, a healthy gut equals a healthy immune system. In children with recurrent otitis media, 24 weeks of probiotics versus placebo was shown to reduce recurrent respiratory infections. Another study, revealed reduced otitis media recurrence in children given probiotics. Still another study revealed a reduction in fever, rhinorrhea, cough, days of antibiotics, and missed school days in children given probiotics daily for 6 months versus placebo.

How?  The current thought is that bacteria and viruses use a “biofilm” protective layer. This protects the virus or bacteria against the body’s immune attacks. This also appears to protect the offending virus/bacteria against administered therapies.

The importance of the gut to the immune system shouldn’t surprise us. It is estimated that 70% of the immune system is concentrated in the gastrointestinal system. In fact, we know that the route of delivery predicts the gut flora. Other events, including maternal steroids, antibiotics, and breast-feeding, can also alter the risk. Collectively, these early events can increase obesity risk.

Vitamin C

What do guinea pigs and people have in common? Their bodies don’t make vitamin C. That’s right, we humans, don’t make vitamin C. So, the only way our bodies get vitamin C is through our diet. Just like vitamin D, the majority of us don’t take in enough Vitamin C.

No therapies will have all positive studies, but therapy using vitamin C has a large body of evidence supporting its use against the common cold and flu. Vitamin C therapy came to prominence with Linus Pauling in the 1970’s. Linus Pauling was an advocate for Vitamin C therapy as an anti-viral therapy in the treatment of the common cold and flu. In his 1970 study, the incidence of colds were reduced by 45% and the duration of the colds were reduced by 63%. High dose IV vitamin C therapy has been shown to reduce the symptoms of the common cold and flu by 85% in a study of 715 people by Gorton and Jarvis. A study by Straten and Josling, showed that vitamin C reduced the incidence and the duration of cold symptoms. A large Cochrane review, showed a reduction of the severity and duration of cold symptoms with vitamin C therapy.

Furthermore, vitamin C has been shown to have many positive immunomodulatory effects. A study by Wintergerst, Magginini, and Hornig discussed many of the positive immune effects of vitamin C. And Harri Hemila in 2006, discussed the effects of vitamin C and the large body of evidence that show the positive effects it has on the immune system. The immune enhancement effects of vitamin C should be evident over the long-term. A study out of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2006 showed no change in severity or incidence of the common cold, BUT a 66% decrease in 3 or more colds over a 5-year period was seen; revealing just the long-term positive immune enhancing effect we were looking for. So the benefits are extensive, reaching beyond a therapy for the common cold and flu.

Homeopathy

Homeopathy goes back to the eighteenth century with Samuel Hahnemann, MD. In fact, it probably goes back even further. Hippocrates (400 BC) was quoted as saying, “through the like, disease is produced and through the application of the like, it is cured.” Homeopathy works by helping the body to heal itself first, before the powerful interventions of today’s therapies. These powerful interventions come with powerful side effects. The healing medical model of homeopathy fits the Hippocratic oath well, “First, do no harm.”

Homeopathy has been shown to be an effective addition in the treatment and prevention of the cold and flu. Homeopathy was shown to reduce the infection rate of cold and flu viruses by 20-40%. Long waits to see the doctor are very common in Europe and one study showed that homeopathy effectively reduces URI symptoms in children versus a waiting-list control. Finally, in a head-to-head study, homeopathy was shown to be more effective and had lower complication rates than antibiotics in children with recurrent acute rhinopharyngitis.

So how do we stay well?  

One thing is certain, wellness doesn’t come from the flu vaccine. Working with your body and allowing what God created to work as it was intended provides true wellness. Your body wants to protect and heal you. Why not give it a chance, first? No one therapy can provide 100% protection against the common cold and flu. However, these four recommendations, vitamin D, probiotics, vitamin C and homeopathy, have been shown through scientific evidence, to be worthy preventive and therapeutic tools for the upcoming cold and flu season.

 

 

Cinnamon: The Super Spice!

Cinnamon has long been known for its health and healing properties. Benefits include anti-clotting actions, anti-microbial and fungal activity as well as blood sugar control. Many people have the stubborn yeast called Candida. Cinnamon has been found to help stop the growth of this nasty fungus. Among it’s many benefits, cinnamon has one of the highest antioxidant levels of any spice. This super spice can also help reduce blood sugar spikes after eating foods loaded with carbohydrates. If eating a high carb meal, season with cinnamon to help lessen its effect on blood sugar levels.

Here are a few ways to add cinnamon to your day:

• Sprinkle hot cereal with cinnamon in the morning
• Diffuse cinnamon essential oil
• Simmer cinnamon sticks with your favorite type of milk and honey
• Add ground cinnamon to black beans and enjoy a distinctively, delicious taste
• Spice up your holiday dishes by making a cinnamon turkey glaze or healthy peanut butter cookies.

Pumpkins: More Than Just Fall Decorations

 

Pumpkins: More Than Just Fall Decorations by Valerie Costanza, RD Fall brings an abundance of gourds and flavorful crop. Pumpkin is one of the many colorful vegetables that is plentiful this time of year. Not only is pumpkin a good source of fiber, but the color is a great indication that it is rich in beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is an antioxidant that is converted to vitamin A in the body. This important vitamin has many functions including reducing the risk of cancer and heart disease. The flesh is not the only part you can eat and receive health benefits. Don’t forget about the seeds. The many minerals in pumpkin seeds contain agents that fight against aging, osteoporosis and prostate cancer. This recipe has quickly become one of the favorites in my house! It is extremely filling and offers up lots of vitamins and minerals. Try it for breakfast! Pumpkin Flax Smoothie Ingredients : 2 frozen bananas 1/3 cup 1-2 % milk 6-8 oz plain Greek Yogurt 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree 2 Tbsp Agave Nectar or Raw Honey 4 Tbsp Coconut Oil 4 Tbsp Ground Flax seed- optional 2 tsp Cinnamon 1 tsp ground Ginger This Nutrition Update is brought to you by Seasons. For a personalized nutrition consultation with Valerie Costanza, call Seasons at 255-3223 and schedule an appointment.

5 Keys to Long-Term Weightloss: Gimmicks vs. Wellness

Obesity is described as the #1 health problem today. But what exactly is a health problem? I’d like to define it this way: a health problem is an obstacle to good health.

As I have said many times, obesity is the doorway to disease. Sixty-seven percent of Americans are either overweight or obese today. And for the first time, obesity exceeds those that are overweight. Approximately 34% of Americans are obese. Just think about that for a minute. What a hopeless statistic.

And the numbers, unfortunately, are not improving. Look at our children. More children battle obesity than ever before. The statistics in children is alarming, with up to 17% of children and adolescents being obese. Worse yet, this is a three-fold increase in just one generation.

Metabolic syndrome is in many ways the result of obesity. Metabolic syndrome, once only an adult disease, is now frequently diagnosed in children. As obesity goes, so goes metabolic syndrome. As metabolic syndrome goes, so goes disease. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome is 39.7% in moderately obese children and 49.7% in severely obese children.

All this to say, we, as a nation, need to lose weight. But we need to lose weight the right way. The reality is this: helping people lose weight is not difficult, but helping people to lose weight and maintain the weightloss proves to be very difficult. If it was so easy, everybody would do it.

Just look around us. There are weight loss “gimmicks” all over the place. According to the free dictionary, a gimmick is defined as “a device employed to cheat, deceive, or trick.” Gimmicks come in all forms: prepackaged meals, shakes, prescription drugs (Adipex, Xenical), HCG and even weight loss surgeries. All these gimmicks have in one thing in common – failure. Yes, they will help you lose some weight, but they fail miserably in the maintenance department. The short-term success of weightloss through gimmicks results in long-term failure due to a train-wrecked metabolism, making your long-term weight loss that much more difficult.

Let’s look at a few examples. Adipex is commonly prescribed drug that helps people lose weight. It is an amphetamine-like compound that speeds up the metabolism and suppresses the appetite. It works short-term, but without lifestyle change, rebound will occur. The rebound is worse as Adipex alters the body’s ability to lose weight through muscle loss and thyroid dysfunction. Oh, and did I forget to mention the addiction?

Let’s look at HCG. So if you take HCG, does that mean the cause of your obesity is a deficiency in HCG? Really, whose cause of obesity is an HCG deficiency? Throw in the fact that the HCG diet consists of 500 calories daily. A diet of 500 calories daily will cause starvation and actually changes your thyroid metabolism, triggering a slowing of metabolism. So when you come off the HCG and the 500 calorie diet, rebound weight gain occurs. Who can maintain a 500 calorie diet anyway?

And the worst gimmick? Weight-loss surgeries. Let’s objectively think about this. What do the numbers say about weight loss surgery? A recent 10 year study of Lap Band, considered the safer weightloss surgery, revealed only a 42% weightloss maintained over 12 years with a quality-of-life scale unchanged. Let’s contrast that with the risks. Up to 50% of the patients required removal of their lap band with a repeat surgery risk at 60%, up to a third of the bands eroded, and over 40% encountered serious complications. Couple this with the bone loss seen in adults and children with weight loss surgery, and the question asked should be this: What are we doing to ourselves and our children?

Now that we’ve discussed the gimmicks, let me offer a solution: the Wellness Weight Loss program powered by Seasons.

Why “Wellness Weight Loss?” Our primary objective at Seasons is to provide solutions for you to be healthy and well! We don’t just want to help people lose weight.  We want to help people lose weight and keep it off. That is the only path to long-term health and wellness.

The definition of a successful weightloss program is not whether weightloss occurs: it is whether the weight-loss is maintained. One of the greatest obstacles to wellness is inflammation. Fat itself produces systemic inflammation. Fat cells trigger inflammatory signals, called cytokines. Fat cells have been shown to release the cytokines: TNF-alpha, IL-1, and IL-6. To reduce inflammation, one must lose weight.  Only through weight loss and long-term maintenance, can wellness be achieved.

 Why powered by Seasons? At Seasons, we want to glorify our creator in all that we do. To do that, we must look to His creation to find the answers. His creation is our bodies. His signature is our biochemistry. That should be where we are looking, because that is where the causes are.  And yes, there are always multiple causes. And no, a one size-fits-all approach doesn’t work. God created us to be unique and different. Our causes of weight gain will also be unique and different. And our solutions for weightloss need to be unique and different – customized for your particular metabolism and circumstances.

Wellness Weight Loss powered by Seasons follows the 5 Points of Wellness that we’ve established as our guidelines to achieving optimal health.

• Nutrition
• Exercise
• Hormone balance
• Inflammation
• Detoxification

These 5 Points of Wellness are the keys to proper metabolic functioning. They are God-created and they are the only means to long-term weightloss. Through the 5 Points of Wellness, a customized program is created to meet your exact metabolic dysfunctions.

Contrary to what you see today, healing can and does occur. But, healing only comes through our creator. To do that, we must look to His creation first, our bodies, for the means to achieve healing.

Why not glorify God in all that we do, including weightloss. Lose weight. Live well!

The Chicken and the Egg or What is Functional Medicine?

 

I am always amazed at what people will say when they can remain anonymous. Recently we published a guest post on our website by Dr. Ron Grisanti entitled “What is Functional Medicine?”  A well-written article, it resulted in three hateful comments (not published on our website) calling us names and comparing functional medicine to homeopathy.

I do practice Functional Medicine. And we do, on occasion, use homeopathy. But the two are very different. Functional medicine is not a symptom-based treatment paradigm. It is a solution-based treatment paradigm.

Sometimes, the best way to understand is via illustration. So, let’s discuss what functional medicine is by comparing the treatment strategies for a common complaint among patients, fatigue.

The protocol in traditional medicine routinely addresses fatigue as depression. But in looking at fatigue in that light, the chicken or the egg scenario quickly comes into play. Is fatigue depression or are depressive symptoms the result of stress and fatigue?

The answer, which seems painfully obvious to me, is the latter.  In my earlier post “It’s Not Depression…It’s Stress,” the symptoms of depressions are the results of stress. It seems like semantics, but determining cause and effect is a critical part of practicing medicine. Treating symptoms with anti-depressants does not actually treat the cause. In contrast, they create dependence. Anti-depressants become a very costly band-aid which causes physiologic disruption as well.

The traditional medical approach is linear, reactionary, and a “one-size fits all” approach.  Let’s contrast this with a functional medicine approach.

Functional medicine is about biochemistry. Functional medicine is about physiology. Functional medicine is not an opinion, nor is it a standard of care. Functional medicine is the standard of biochemistry and physiology. Like death and taxes, biochemistry and physiology are constant.

Fatigue is the lack of energy.  Lack of energy is the lack of ATP generation.  What is ATP? ATP is energy.

Above, is the molecular structure of ATP.  ATP production is glycolysis, Kreb’s cycle, and the electron transport.

What you see above is the biochemistry of energy production. It is the physiologic process that occurs within every cell of our body every second of every day.

Not only that, but this entire process of energy production can be evaluated through testing which we perform here at Seasons Wellness Clinic. Even better, individual treatments can be designed based on an individual’s specific biochemical dysfunction, true individualized therapy directed at the source of the problem.

So, when someone has symptoms of fatigue or poor energy production, doesn’t it make sense to look to the cell’s energy production mechanism?  It seems like an obvious step.  Yet, is rarely done. My fellowship training allows me to evaluate test results and see the energy-generation, or lack thereof, in your body’s biochemistry and to tailor a solution that will resolve your energy-production issues.

What concerns me is not that others have differing opinions. It is not the debate of ideas and research. I welcome that. My concern is when there is opposition to OPEN exchange and debate of ideas and research. There is a hostility that seems to be present everywhere in medicine. It is my opinion that when in debate, if you resort to name-calling, you have lost the intellectual high ground.

Conventional medicine is not the problem. Remember, I am a conventionally trained physician. But, as stated by Dana Ullman, MPH, the problem is the “conventional thought” in medicine today. Medicine should be about what is right, not about what everyone else is doing. Medicine, it seems to me, has become much more about preserving a way of life, rather than actually preserving life.

Functional medicine is not about a standard of care. It is not about an opinion. Functional medicine is about treating the individual, determining the biochemical dysfunction at its source.

For me, functional medicine is about giving credit and glory to our Creator. I look to evaluate and prescribe therapy based on the premise of returning proper function to His creation.

Want to read more about functional medicine? I’m currently enrolled at The University of South Florida’s Medical School, the third largest in the United States, in the Master’s Program for Metabolic and Nutritional Medicine. You can read more about that program here. I’ve also listed a few additional articles that might be of interest. Happy reading!

Related articles

• Innovative Master’s Degree Program Launched by The A4M Fellowship in Anti-Aging Medicine and University of South Florida (prweb.com)
• What Is Functional Medicine? (a4m.com)

Healthy Living Tips: A Recipe for All-Natural Bug Spray

Toxins are everywhere. I am always looking for ways to reduce my families exposure to toxic chemicals.  There is nothing more dangerous than home fumigation for bugs, filling every corner of your home with toxins.  These toxins are very dangerous, as they linger in the house and we are continually exposed to them.

I have found a recipe for an all-natural alternative to your everyday bug spray, a home bug spray using essential oils. Not just any essential oil will do here; they must be pure and unadulterated.  For this reason, I use YoungLiving Essential Oils.

Here’s the recipe for an all-natural bug-spray solution.

• 20 drops of Peppermint Essential Oil
• 10 drops of Cypress Essential Oil
• 1 cup water

Mix well. Be sure to shake the mixture well before spraying.

You’ll enjoy a bug-free AND toxin-free environment. This solution is great for ants and cockroaches.  I have found that it works with spiders as well. With this approach, you are one step closer to detoxing your home and your life! At Seasons, we carry many Young Living Essential Oils, including peppermint and cypress essential oils. For more information, contact Seasons at 318-255-3223.

Live Healthy. Live Well.

Handle with Care: 7 Steps to Cure Medical Debt

 

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