 Tomorrow, October 9th, is the annual PANDAS/PANS awareness day. I really think we need more than a day of awareness, a month would be really nice. So many children are shuttled into programs or medications that do not get at the root cause of why they are having symptoms of anxiety, OCD, irritability, restrictive eating, anger and more. Young children, 1st grade get arrested for behavior they don't have control over. Their little brains are on fire and they can not think. When my daughter was young, she would have 45+ minute temper tantrums. No amount of redirection helped. Not even bargaining helped. She would just rage and rage on until she exhausted herself. She had social anxiety so much that when she was evaluated for a special needs program for preschoolers, she hide herself under my chair. Visibly afraid of the evaluator who was being so gentle, offering various toys to encourage her to come out. We tried play therapy only helped minimally. Occupational therapy helped with the sound sensitivities however there was so much more going on.  Eventually we found a helpful chiropractor who started her on the path towards healing. She helped us uncover our daughters food allergies that was making it hard for her to think. Hello gluten! Did you know gluten allergy can cause a multitude of symptoms beside GI troubles. Gluten allergy can cause acne, headaches, migraines, joint pain, numbness, hyperactivity, weight-loss, bloating, gas, itchy skin, rashes, anemia, depression just to name a few. However it wasn't just gluten that was her problem. I eventually deduced she had PANDAS, but I needed to find a practitioner to treat her. Thankfully our chiropractor found a functional neurologist who helped us get to the root cause of what was going on inside her. My daughters body was still battling the streptococcus infection she had at age 2, the mycoplasma pneumonia infection she picked up someplace and a raging case of candida from the all the antibiotics I had in my last trimester, during labor and the dose they gave her a 6 weeks due to some mystery illness they felt was best to treat with an antibiotic versus finding out why she had a high fever. The end result was her body was on fire from the gluten allergy, which for her is actually celiac, and fighting all those infections. Once we treated the infections, removed stressors like us fostering children. She began to thrive. Need help getting to root cause of what is going on for yourself or your child? I can help. I've been trained as a Function Nutrition Coach, to help you discover what is going on inside. If you have been treating your symptoms with medications for months or years and it hasn't improved. Consider functional nutrition coaching. Schedule a FREE 15 minute strategy session.
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 □by Bluebird Provisions As fall dips into winter and we are finding ourselves indoors more, we may become exposed to the common cold or maybe the flu. To help support our immune system during the cooler months make an immune boosting broth at home to sip. Bone broth is an ancient nutrient dense food that has been used for centuries. It contains minerals in forms that you body can easily absorb.
Research from the University of Nebraska Medical Center study that found chicken soup not the kind that comes in a red and white can. But the old fashion kind you can make at home or find on grocery stores shelves. (brands such at Kettle & Fire, Epic, Trader Joe's and Nona Lim just to name a few) This kind of chicken soup produces amino acids that reduce inflammation in the respiratory system and improved digestion. The research also discovered it can boost the immune system and heal disorders like allergies, asthma and arthritis. Make this souper food, (whoops) super food at home with the following recipe and add in a few medicinal herbs and foods, such as astragalus root and mushrooms. Both of these items can be found locally here in Greensboro at Deep Roots Market or from Haw River Mushrooms, which can be found at the Greensboro Curb Farmers Market.  □by Pascal Debrunner  Many times our healthcare model only looks at your malady, the symptoms not you as a person. Functional Medicine and Functional Nutrition Coaching takes into account you as a person. It is personalized medicine plus coaching. Any diagnosis you may have from irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety, brain fog, and even cancer that you might be suffering from is unique. How it began in your body is unique to you. I have discovered personally that unique issues need unique solutions, take for example my daughter who was diagnosed with PANDAS/PANS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections/Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome) needed to change her diet, address the candida overgrowth in her gut and body. Traditional medicine wanted her to do therapy and medications. The therapy helped some but once we addressed her underlying causes through diet change and botanicals she started to become a neuro-typical child. This was all supported by scientific research. How do we uncover the root causes of your issues so that we can create an individualized remedies and action plans that work to bring you towards resolution?  It's YOUR StoryYour story is unique to you, so we will be able to find answers in your story. Because your symptoms didn't appear out of no where, though at times it feels like that. This is a story of how the environment in your body became the perfect storm for your health concern. Just like my daughter. Your story isn't in your genes alone, or the lab test or even the detailed health history inventory. However when you share your story with me, the beginning of your symptoms, how you felt, what you were going through, who presently is supporting your healing journey, then slowly all the pieces of your puzzle come together. We will find where your body and life got out of alignment. Then the root cause of your symptoms will start to disclose themselves.  MediatorsMediators are things that make your symptoms better or worse. I will help your look for the mediators in your story, even you can begin to discover them for yourself. It could be a certain food, the quality of your sleep, stress in your relationships or your job, even the level of physical activity, or a multitude of other factors. Can you find your mediators in your story? Look back at events in your life and how you felt. You too, can make the connections. Possibly your child's anxiety started after they had a cold or the flu. Or perhaps your arthritis flare-up occurred after you had an upsetting conversation with a loved one. Or maybe that vegan recipe your foodie friend recommended you eat, makes your ears turn red. It's all in your story, that is unique to you. As a Functional Nutrition Coach I am trained to help guide you in the telling of your story so we can uncover crucial information about your symptoms and find a solution that is unique to you as your story is. Sometimes you will know the parts of your story on your own. So that you can make the associations. Other times you may need a helping hand to make those connections and identify the interventions that will work for you. Learn more how I can help you find those mediators in a short get to know you 20 minute session. This content is for informational purposes only. It is in no way intended as medical advice, as a substitute for medical counseling, or as treatment or cure for any particular health condition. Be sure to always work directly with a qualified health practitioner before making any changes to your diet or lifestyle that may feel out of your realm of comfort or understanding. Finally, please understand that you assume all responsibility for the use, misuse or non-use of the information stated here.
 Almost Instant Grain-Free Porridge Too many sweet treats & breadsThis past year has been challenging for many. We each have chosen to use different coping mechanisms. I love to create, be it in the kitchen or in the studio it's my happy place. I have done more baking in the past year then I've done in a long time. Yes, I do mostly low sugar baking but even eating too many low sugar baked goods still adds up in total amount of carbs and sugars I was consuming not to mention a few glasses of wine or cider.
Unfortunately this coping mechanism caused the nasty dragon I call candida to raise it's head in my body. I've battle candida most of my life. I was given way too much antibiotics in my youth - hello modern medicine. This time candida presented itself as a rash on my body.  Have you ever visited a doctor only for them to say take this pill our use the cream and let me know if it helps. Have you wished you had more information about why you were experiencing your health challenge. I'm here to tell you - you do know more than you think about your own body. In fact your body is giving you clues all the time on what is going on inside.  For a limited time I have limited spots for a Root Cause Journey. Where I will help you figured out what is going on inside. What is a required for this journey?
 photo curtsey of Markus Spiske If you have been following along, you may have many questions. Let me walk you through the process. One of the first things we will do when working together will be the intake survey to determine how best to address your individual terrain. It is good to remember we are all bio-individual, so what works for Veronica, most likely wouldn’t work for Latha and so forth. Therefore we will be looking at the biological terrain (your internal environment) for the root cause(s) of your symptoms.
Many factors can impact disease expression, such as:
So when we look at all the elements of a person’s life in that big mixing bowl of the body, then add influences and risk of life’s stressors (both internal and external) . . and just like that . . we can see aches, pains, discomfort and disease. One of our first steps after intake will be a food, mood (i.e. energetic, sluggish, headache, etc) and poop journal. We will sit down together and review the journal to look for the holes in the roof that need plugging, i.e. what is gleaned from this journal will help us determine the next steps. Remember many factors are important to our physical and mental health, such as how much one sleeps, the quality of sleep. What foods are eaten, time of day one eats. Even how much movement there is in a day. However I will dive into more detail about that in a later post.  Let me tell your a story of how I came to functional medicine. When my was daughter was about 3 she became extremely fearful of places and people, of being left anywhere, even acceptable places like a camp for kids or a friend's house. Case in point, I had signed her up to participate in kid's art camp, she loved to draw, paint, build anything. It appeared to be a perfect fit. First day I dropped her off there were plenty of tears. Now I'll hear you say, that's perfectly normal, however the tears didn't stop. They could not distract her enough to participate. The camp eventually called to ask me to pick up my daughter. She wasn't going to be able to attend the camp. They did give me a refund thankfully. This type of experience continued off and on for another 6 months. Then when she was 3 1/2 we went to her weekly swimming class which she adored, however it caused her to have a full on panic attack, practically strangling me. It was very overwhelming as a parent to understand what was going on. These types of incidents continued in various ways over the next 5 years. Doctors would say oh it's growing pains.
Functional Medicine treats the whole person, it is the practice of moving towards a root cause of the symptoms versus managing the symptoms. Thus the outcome of functional medicine is long term health and wellness. I've experienced the benefits of functional medicine first hand. I watch how it brought my daughter back to a neurotypical child. One that was engaging and not melting down EVERY SINGLE DAY for minor reasons. I watched how functional medicine helped my husband recover from generalized anxiety and an out of the blue fear of high bridges and roadways. He now is a much more relaxed and extremely less anxious than he had been for years that he can remember.
A functional medicine practitioner, will not take a wait and see approach. They see lots of places where they can assist the patient to help them start feeling better. They can identify behaviors that are related to her suffering, move the patient towards better nutrition and suggest lifestyle changes that will help them take ownership of their daily life experiences. It will take a functional practitioner time to uncover the reasons why the patient is not feeling well. It will take time to educate the patient on how they can take control of their health and manage their symptoms. That is where I as a functional nutrition coach can assist you in making the changes needed in order for you to feel better sooner. I am trained to help you to investigate and find root causes for your symptoms. I can assist you in implementing the changes necessary for you to support your healing and continued wellness. I have the tools and training to get you onto the path to whole wellness. |
AuthorMary is a life long advocate for helping others take control of their own health. She enjoys running, yoga, crew, SUP boarding, and hiking. She enjoys reading, and creating. 
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