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Chronic stress, anxiety and fatigue: What you need to know

If you’ve ever experienced a panic attack, acute stress, or extreme anxiety, you may also notice feeling tired and exhausted.

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Dr. Markyia Nichols on using less medication

Tell us a bit about yourself, your medical background, and how you found your way to Ciba Health. I started out in OB-GYN, which I absolutely loved. It was fast-paced. It was quite a bit of stress. Although at the time, it just felt like lots of energy and it was fun. I noticed pretty […]

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Functional, Holistic, Integrative, or Naturopathic Medicine?

Tell us a bit about yourself, your medical background, and how you found your way to Ciba Health. My name is Sandy Le and I’m one of the Medical Directors of Ciba Health, on the West Coast. Since we’re national, we have West and East regions. I’m a naturopathic doctor. I went to UCLA for […]

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Doctors, dieticians, and health coaches – why collaboration is essential

Dr. Innocent Clement: I am the CEO and founder of Ciba Health. Here with us today is my Director of Wellness, Whitney Crouch.

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How To Set Mini-Goals And Shift Your Habits

Are you achieving your goals? Did you make resolutions or set goals for this year and feel you’re falling behind?

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5 Easy To Follow Intermittent Fasting Schedules

Intermittent fasting is a nutrition plan that switches between periods of fasting and eating on a regular schedule.

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6-Step Breathing Exercise To Relieve Stress

Controlled breathing exercises can help keep your mind focused and body in shape, by helping to lower blood pressure, promote feelings of calm and relaxation, and relieve stress.

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4 Steps to Create Your Morning Affirmation

Positive affirmations can be used to reshape and reprogram your thought patterns and change the way you feel about things.

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Is Social Media Negatively Affecting Your Mental Health?

There’s no denying the benefits of social media. Along with making connections, these platforms can grow your business and be a valuable source of information and inspiration.  

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What Does It Really Mean to Have a Balanced Diet?

When many of us think about a healthy, balanced diet, the first thought that comes to mind is probably the food pyramid, followed by a flashback of your teacher pointing to a diagram on the chalkboard.

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How chronic stress and anxiety can make you tired

If you’ve ever experienced a panic attack, acute stress, or extreme anxiety, you may also notice feeling tired and exhausted. It may even become a vicious cycle of stress, anxiety, and fatigue. Read on to see what you need to know about the relationship between stress, anxiety, and exhaustion, and what you can do to feel better.

What drives chronic stress, fatigue, and anxiety?

In moderation, the body’s response to stress is healthy – it helps us avoid (or fight) aggressors and dangerous predators that could threaten our lives. However, in today’s world, it’s much more likely that stress is contributing to poor health. Generally, when a stressor (such as a tight deadline or a public speaking engagement) has passed, our body’s flight-or-fight response is turned off, and our hormones go back to normal. But, so many executives these days constantly feel under attack – perhaps from ongoing deadlines and ever-increasing job demands – and your body stays in a stress-induced state. Prolonged stress can cause many other mental and physical issues – most commonly chronic fatigue and anxiety. 

What are the consequences of experiencing long-term stress?

Long-term activation of the stress-response system and overexposure to cortisol and other stress hormones can disrupt almost all your body’s processes. This can lead to the development of health problems such as:

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Digestive problems
  • Headaches
  • Heart disease
  • Sleep problems
  • Fatigue
  • Weight gain
  • Memory and concentration impairment

How does stress impact the workplace?

Health problems due to chronic stress can lead to decreased productivity, more errors in your work, and increased absenteeism due to the recovery time from illness. 

According to the American Institute of Stress

  • Over 1 million workers are absent daily due to stress. 
  • Unanticipated absenteeism is estimated to cost employers over $3.5 million yearly. 
  • 60% of absences could be traced to psychological problems that were due to workplace stress.

What’s more, according to a 2019 survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, 64% of US adults say work significantly stresses them.

This isn’t surprising, considering the prevalence of anxiety is rising in U.S. adults. According to a 10-year study from the Journal of Psychiatric Research on anxiety among U.S. adults from 2008 to 2018, anxiety increased from 5.12% in 2008 to 6.68% in 2018 – with greater impacts on those under the age of 50.

How can I deal with chronic stress, fatigue, and anxiety?

These statistics mentioned here are particularly relevant for executives and professionals who have stressful jobs and don’t have the time or energy to seek treatment. But – know that there is caring, comprehensive, stigma-free hope and help available. If you feel like you are constantly under stress, anxiety, and/or fatigue, there is a way to feel better. 

Here are some coping mechanisms to help in the short-term, from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America:

  • Take a time-out. Practice yoga, listen to music, meditate, get a massage, or learn relaxation techniques. Stepping back from the problem helps clear your head.
  • Eat well-balanced meals. Do not skip any meals. Do keep healthful, energy-boosting snacks on hand.
  • Limit alcohol and caffeine, which can aggravate anxiety and trigger panic attacks.
  • Get enough sleep. When stressed, your body needs additional sleep and rest.
  • Exercise daily to help you feel good and maintain your health. Check out the fitness tips below.
  • Take deep breaths. Inhale and exhale slowly, and follow a breathing exercise.
  • Count to 10 slowly. Repeat, and count to 20 if necessary.
  • Do your best. Instead of aiming for perfection, which isn’t possible, be proud of however close you get.

For more specialized help and comprehensive care, Ciba Health offers a personalized program to help executives and stressed-out leaders combat fatigue, stress, and anxiety. Learn more by contacting our Care Advisor: https://cibahealth.com/free-consultation/

Tell us a bit about yourself, your medical background, and how you found your way to Ciba Health.

I started out in OB-GYN, which I absolutely loved. It was fast-paced. It was quite a bit of stress. Although at the time, it just felt like lots of energy and it was fun. I noticed pretty early in my career that two things were happening. First off, I was starting to get pretty rundown. Second, I was noticing that I was having to give more and more medications and pills. Every year the same patient would come back with the same issue and need another medication. It started to become really frustrating for me. I realized that it wasn’t what I signed up for. At the same time, I was struggling with all of the stress and the running around, and I was not being kind to my body.

I ended up having an undiagnosed thyroid disorder, which looked normal from the traditional medicine viewpoint. I literally almost retired from medicine. I felt like I wasn’t helping my patients. I was pushing medications. I was sick myself, and I didn’t want to use the same stuff that I was giving to my patients. So through a series of synchronicities and just exploring some other outside of the box therapies, I ended up finding functional medicine. I was at a conference and a friend of mine suggested that I look into it, and I literally fell in love with medicine again. Once I started putting this into practice in my traditional practice, I moved completely out of conventional medicine into functional medicine. I literally saw medical issues reverse within months.

These are the same issues that were requiring years and years of medications on top of medications, and never, ever saw any progress for patients. And here I was in a field where I was able to help people literally reverse their symptoms. I was able to heal myself through using that same medicine, functional medicine, really getting to the root of the issue. I have my own private practice. And again, there were a series of synchronicities and Ciba came on my radar. I knew I had to be a part of it because this is not only cutting edge medicine, but we’re also bringing in all of these tools to be able to validate what we’re doing and really give people some data and information to validate the progress they’re making.

What is your role within Ciba health?

I’m helping to build out the functional medicine team. I’m the functional medicine director of the east coast. So, I’m working with all of the practitioners currently, but mainly I will be based on the East coast. I see my role as helping the company to grow its functional medicine programs and make sure that as we’re developing programs we’re really getting to the root cause of issues. And that as we’re building out our telemedicine platform, which a lot of people are new at, we’re making sure it’s an opportunity for people to really accomplish healing from the comfort of their home. It just gives people a really convenient way to address their health issues, to be proactive, to potentially get the family supported. That’ what we’re, we’re hoping to bring to the world. 

Healthcare costs are rising, especially when it comes to prescription medication. Is it possible for patients to decrease or eliminate prescription medications?

Absolutely. And I see it all the time, and that’s what’s really exciting. For a lot of people who maybe have given up on the hope of ever coming off of medication or maybe they’re having side effects from a medication, it is possible. We know that the body knows how to heal. You can cut yourself and the body immediately goes to work to heal. That wound creates a scab. We know the body knows how to heal. The thing is really figuring out the root of the issue that’s creating disease. Once we’re able to pinpoint the root causes and create the change at the root, then the body already knows how to fix itself. You give it the right tools. It knows how to repair. So I like to look at medications as a short-term bridge.

If you’re having an issue and you’re really suffering from a symptom, medication is a short-term bridge while you’re digging to figure out what is actually creating that issue.

We’ll take me for example, with a thyroid issue. Initially, when I was having lots of struggles with fatigue, weight gain, dry hair, and everything, which was really pointing towards the thyroid issue, I was on thyroid hormone for a while. At the same time, I was digging into what was creating the thyroid issue. A lot of people just stay on their thyroid hormone forever. And unfortunately, if you do not figure out what the root cause is, then you can be band-aiding that symptom, but you’re still affecting other organs.

If I had not figured out how to repair my thyroid, for example, but taken the pill just to take care of this one symptom, it doesn’t mean the other organs and joints and hormones that are relying on that thyroid hormone won’t suffer. The other issue with medications is that usually when you’re taking medication, it is literally cutting off or blocking a certain process that’s happening in the body. That process is creating the symptom. You do get relief from that symptom for a period of time. However, when you block a process, a normal process, that’s supposed to be occurring in your body, it’s going to wreak havoc on other systems. This is exactly why these medications have side effects. When you are for instance on a statin drug, for high cholesterol, you will frequently have joint aches and pains while you’re blocking a specific system in the body, because you’re depleting a nutrient in the body. And that creates side effects. Whereas if you look and you figure out the root of the issue, what is creating the inflammation, what is creating the body to create more cholesterol? It could be literally that your hormones are low and the body is trying to create more cholesterol to make more hormones. So once you figure these things out and you repair them, and the body starts to repair itself, then you can naturally start to wean off or eliminate medications. 

How did you find out the root cause that was triggering your hormones to act in a different way?

That’s the beauty of functional medicine. We go back to physiology – all of the physiology that we memorized in medical school just for the exam. If you’re in the early phases of the issue, for example with thyroid disease, when you look at someone’s thyroid labs in the traditional medical world, you have this range of “normal” and it’s a very wide range. As long as you’re within that range, your doctor’s going to say that your labs are normal. However, it does not mean that those labs are optimal

Research studies on healthy people who have vibrant hormones have been done to show what lab ranges are optimal for a person. Because if you’re on the bottom end of the range, you’re not going to feel well, even though your labs are “normal”. With the functional medicine approach, you’re really going back into physiology.

We know that there are a lot of things that can create some imbalance in the body. We do specific testing that goes above and beyond the traditional blood work that you would normally get.

And these could be looking at something as simple as nutrient deficiencies, which were a big one on my list. I was missing zinc, selenium, and iodine – all those things that the thyroid needs in order to synthesize hormone. So if for me, I was running around in the hospital, eating fast food and not getting those nutrients. I could have taken thyroid hormone forever, or changed the way I ate to replenish those nutrients. I was off of my thyroid hormone in no time. Functional testing really goes deep into physiology. We’re looking at the hormones, we’re testing them the right way. We’re looking at nutrient deficiencies. We’re looking at the gut health and gut integrity, which is really important for everything. We’re looking at neurotransmitters. All of these things are important. 

We’re also taking the time. A lot of people can relate to going to their doctor and literally having 10 minutes to see their physician. They have two minutes to chat about their issue and hope that the doctor gets a gist of what’s going on. They get a couple of labs and then they leave home with a prescription. In the functional medicine world, we realize how important it is to really take the time to sit down with our patients and discuss the issues and the symptoms. 

We figure out all of the psychosocial things that could be contributing to the underlying issue. Stress is a big issue. And if you don’t take that into consideration, you’re missing a key component. You can put supplements and pills and everything in someone’s regimen. But if you don’t address the underlying stress, it literally will not work.

Do you think we are too reliant on prescription medication? 

I think that we’ve been in crisis for many, many years. I think that if anything, we’re reaching a point where I think for maybe the first time ever, patients are starting to see that there might be a little propaganda behind all of the pharmaceutical commercials that we’re bombarded with. People aren’t feeling well. I think it’s vitally important now, especially with the pandemic, to open people’s eyes to the importance of being really healthy. Those who have healthy immune systems and are really taking care of those underlying medical issues aren’t the ones that are being impacted by COVID.

In general, I think people are still reliant on medications. And there are some people who really just want the pill. Whatever people’s reasons are, we’re making it easier for people to implement the changes that need to happen in order to have optimal health. That’s one of the reasons why people rely on medications. They don’t have clear instructions on how to get off of them, or they feel like the lifestyle changes that they have to make might be too drastic and won’t be able to do it. One of the things that help us stand out at Ciba and really sets us above and beyond is you have all of the support to get through it and to make it easy.

You can’t tell someone, okay, you need to eat less, eat differently, and exercise more and then send them home without unique, clear instruction. You need to go through someone’s meal plan for a couple of days, see what they’re actually putting into their body. Understand what changes need to be made. You need support, you need someone there who can hold you by the hand as you’re making those changes until it becomes a habit and a way of life.

How might someone who wants to get off of their medication go about doing this?

First off, it’s possible. There is hope. I see it all the time, so it is absolutely possible. And I think it’s important to know that there is a path that you can take. And I think that it is important to work with someone who is an expert at titrating people off of medications in order to do it in a way that’s safe for you. A lot of times, especially with diabetes, as you’re making changes, you want to make sure that you’re really watching your blood sugars and someone else is also gauging that with you. So I think that it’s important to work with a functional medicine practitioner who is not only going to help you titrate off of your medications but is also going to provide you the tools to help your body heal. 

There are some medications that are not safe to come off immediately. For example, with antidepressants, you definitely want to be working with someone and repairing your neurotransmitters. 

There’s usually not somebody who’s taking a medication and their symptoms are a hundred percent resolved. But it’s one of the good ways that we can use as functional medicine practitioners to gauge the progress of the therapy. Because as you’re healing from the root, you’re replenishing the nutrients, you’re balancing out people’s hormones, you’re adding in the dietary and the lifestyle changes, a person will start to feel better and better. Sometimes there’s even a tipping point where your body’s like, I don’t need this medication and you may actually start to feel worse being on that medication. So that’s one of the ways to do it is really repairing the body prior to titrating off of the medication.

And let’s say for example, someone has had a transplant, all right. And they’re on anti-rejection medicine. You would not want to remove that. But there are a lot of things that we can do in functional medicine world, even in that scenario, to really support the body and make sure that everything else is functioning, even though that medication needs to stay there. So most medications that we’re using for chronic diseases or to patch up or band-aid symptoms can absolutely be removed. If you weren’t born with it, I say most likely it can heal. If you did not come into the world with it, then likely there is some underlying process that is keeping it locked in place, and just work with work with a functional medicine practitione to help to do that. It’s possible.

What can we do to alleviate symptoms without medications? Is this safe and effective?

In functional medicine world, there are so many tools that we have when you’re looking at someone from a holistic perspective and you’re not just physically focused.

There are a lot of things that we can implement as far as mindset shifts that will also help for symptoms. For someone who’s suffering from anxiety, per se, which is big right now, especially with the pandemic – instead of relying on the medication to help in the moment for anxiety, we have natural supplements that do the same thing without being addictive, without the potential for overdose, and that are highly effective.

There is one, I call it nature’s value. It’s called “l-theanine” and it’s the active component in green tea. This is what makes green tea so relaxing. I haven’t traveled this year, but I would use it on airplanes. There are natural supplements and things that you can use to help with symptoms that aren’t going to be damaging to the body and blocking body systems, and that are actually going to help the body to repair. 

We also go for mindset and sort of the spiritual shift. We can do mindfulness training. We can do meditation, and then there’s yoga. There are all these tools that we incorporate in functional medicine, when you have a holistic approach that really helps with symptoms. 

How might a functional medicine approach to “pain” or symptoms be different from a conventional approach?

It’s a good question. And it’s a big question. I’m hoping with functional medicine practices and principles, we can really start to reverse this epidemic that we have here. One of the issues is that pain is so multifactorial. It’s one thing if you’re in an accident and you have pain medication after surgery for up to a week or so. We automatically assume that you’re not going to need that pain medicine over time. Why? Because the body heals itself. When it comes to chronic pain, and I’m not going to get so much into like addiction because there are things that you can do for that as well. But we have to look again at the root of the pain. So is there something going on in the body that’s creating the pain.

We can look at it from first, the physical level, fpr someone who has fibromyalgia or chronic pelvic pain. There’s a likely some inflammatory process that is keeping that in place and is creating the situation for pain. You end up being on a lot of medication, whether pain medication or auto-immune drugs that are to target that symptom. And this is where the problem is. You’re missing everything else that’s going on in the body that has created the symptom.

The functional medicine approach to pain is we’re going to look for the root cause physically. We’re going to do the functional testing. We’re going to look at inflammation. We’re going to look at the gut. We’re going to look at what you’re eating. Most of the sources of physical pain are what we’re putting into our bodies through our mouth, through our skin, on our skin. Those are the main sources of the physical pain, and then we need to go even deeper.

If there’s emotional pain there, if there’s anxiety there, if there’s depression, is there something going on at home that can be alleviated or we can do some troubleshooting around that? Let’s figure out what is creating the pain so that it does not escalate into brain fog and cancers and all of those things. So I think that’s the difference. I’ll also say that we have so many options besides opioids to address pain. And a lot of them have been and are now being well studied. We’re having more and more research on things such as acupuncture, when before, probably when I first got out into medicine, when someone spoke of acupuncture, you look at them funny.

Now we can say that, yes, this is a valid way of treating pain that is quite effective and has long-term benefits. It’s helping the entire body. And it’s, non-addictive. We are starting to hear about CBD. Our bodies have these special endocannabinoid receptors that are there. They’re in our body amd designed to interact with cannabinoids, which are very healing for inflammation and for pain and for Alzheimer’s and dementia. In functional medicine, let’s figure out what the root is. Let’s use our tools that we have in our toolbox. And while we’re working on that, we have some amazing supplements and tinctures and meditation and breathing techniques that will help you with your pain as we’re figuring out the root to heal it for good.

Tell us a bit about yourself, your medical background, and how you found your way to Ciba Health.

My name is Sandy Le and I’m one of the Medical Directors of Ciba Health, on the West Coast. Since we’re national, we have West and East regions. I’m a naturopathic doctor. I went to UCLA for undergrad and went to a naturopathic medical school in Portland, Oregon. I completed a two year residency in family medicine, and I’ve always kind of been in the realm of working in functional medicine with a lot of other MD’s. Because our view of medicine is basically the same, we’re getting to the root cause of the problem and being able to provide different modalities of treatment. These treatment modalities range anywhere from herbs, vitamins and minerals to doing diagnostic lab tests. So that’s how I finally found myself working with Ciba Health, because it’s such a neat platform where everything is done through telemed – and it’s increasing access to this type of medicine to everyone, which is a great thing.

What is functional medicine and how do you practice it?

Functional medicine is a personalized and integrative approach to healthcare. So it involves understanding “prevention management” or the root causes of complex disease. Functional medicine draws from a number of different healthcare models, for instance holistic healthcare, which is more focused on body, mind, and spirit. It also takes notes from naturopathic medicine, which is focused on getting to the root cause of illness with different modalities like herbs and supplements. Integrative medicine, on the other hand, is a broad umbrella term that encompasses all of these models that offer the most comprehensive, personalized, and effective approach to healthcare. So overall, functional medicine is more focused on personalized health and learning about how our genetics, our environment, and our lifestyle affect us. It’s about understanding how they all interact as a whole system and how we can use that to diagnose and treat based on whatever imbalances that we see. It’s really about getting to the root of the problem.

What was your first introduction to functional medicine? How did that introduction affect you?

When I was in college, I was pre-med. So I was on track just to go to regular, conventional medical school. I spent a lot of time volunteering at the UCLA medical centers. And I noticed that it was such a pill popping culture. Anyone would come in for something, like a headache. And they would say, “Here, take this pill.” Or, my blood pressure is elevated. “It’s okay, take this pill.” Or you have high cholesterol. “Okay. Take this pill.” No one was really delving into what was going on in their life or their diet. No one was saying, “Okay, well let’s do a rundown of your diet. Let’s talk about your lifestyle and why these headaches coming on.” None of these conversations were had then. I’m sure they are now because more people are more aware of the preventative medicine realm and are getting into lifestyle and nutrition and diet, but back then it was more of a pill popping culture. And I said to myself, I do not want to be in this style of healthcare. You’re not even asking the person the basic questions of what they’re eating or how they’re sleeping or what’s going on in their life. Or are they stressed out or not? Nothing.

For those who may not know, what’s the difference between functional medicine and conventional medicine, which we might be more familiar with?

The conventional medicine approach has a strong emphasis on characterizing disorders by diagnosis. It’s heavily focused on what symptoms or behaviors of the disease are happening, and the treatment relies heavily on synthetic medications or surgeries and invasive procedures. In conventional medicine, the body is viewed as different sets of organs that are all separate. There’s no interconnectedness. So when you have a high blood pressure problem or high cholesterol, you go see the cardiologist. Or if you’re having a lot of gas or bloating, you go see the GI specialist. Versus with functional medicine, you’re looking at the body as a whole. When you think about, for example, if the person has gas and bloating, you’re not just thinking about everything GI-wise. You have to keep into account everything else that’s happening in their environment, like what they’re eating and how stressed they are. So it’s a whole body approach.

How is functional medicine related to integrative medicine? How are those different from holistic medicine?

Integrative medicine is a model of healthcare where conventional medicine is integrated with a non-conventional or alternative modally. So that’s inclusive of herbs, chiropractic care, acupuncture, massage, aroma therapy, etc. In integrative medicine, you have a really big toolbox for evaluations and treatments. So it takes into account, not only the whole person, but also the mind, the spirit, and all aspects of lifestyle. Integrative medicine really emphasizes the therapeutic relationship and makes use of whatever appropriate therapies are out there, both conventional and alternative. So you could say that integrative medicine is also holistic. The terms are interrelated. But again, it all gets down to identifying the root cause of the disease.

Could you give us an example of someone who has come to you after they’ve seen a conventional medicine doctor, and tell us what have you been able to add to their patient experience? What have you been able to help them with in a different way than a conventional doctor has?

I had a 32 year old female come into my office because her hair had been falling out for the past year. She’d seen her primary care doctor who ran labs, including thyroid and iron. And everything on those tests came back normal, so the primary care doctor was like, “Well, I have no idea why your hair is falling out. It might be stress-related, but let’s have you go see the dermatologist.” So she goes and sees a dermatologist who says, “I’m looking at your hair under a magnifying glass and microscope. I don’t see anything crazy happening here. I don’t know why your hair is falling out, but go take some biotin.”

So then she comes to me, and she complains about the fatigue and the fact that her hair is falling out. So we run the appropriate labs, probably the same ones that her primary had run, but also we looked into micronutrients. And we found that her iron level, while it was in the range of normal, was on the low end of normal. These ranges can be from like 10 to a hundred and something, and her level was at around 12. So for her primary care doctor, that was normal because it was in range, but that’s really considered low because it’s not at an optimal level.

We put her on iron supplements and within two months her hair stopped falling out. And she was becoming energetic again. That was a very simple thing that was overlooked because doctors are writing her off and saying her levels were normal.

A lot of other people who come in to see naturopathic doctors or get functional medical care are those who’ve had a lot of chronic health conditions or a lot of gut problems. Usually, they’ve gone to many GI specialists, or many different doctors who don’t know what’s wrong with them. They get some medications to keep their symptoms steady. And then we end up stool testing these people and finding that they have leaky gut or overgrowth of bacteria and then treating that cause – and they end up feeling better.

Is it safe to say that if someone walked into a functional medicine clinic or a naturopathic medicine office, they would be heard more than they would be by a conventional doctor?

Right. We spend a lot more time with our patients. New patient visits can be anywhere between 45 minutes to 60 minutes. And then your follow-ups are around that time too, because you’re delving into everything about the person, like their entire health history, their diet, their sleep, the personal questions of their bowel movements. Everything. So we really want to understand the whole picture, and that takes some time.

You’re a member of the California naturopathic doctors association. Can you tell us a bit more about your role within this association and how naturopathic medicine plays a role in your practice?

I served on the executive board for about two years as their treasurer. The whole point of the California Naturopathic Doctors Association is to educate the public right about naturopathic medicine and our role in healthcare and providing access to naturopathic medicine. Because the problem is many insurances don’t cover it. They see it more as an alternative treatment, not a preventative treatment that would actually save insurance companies millions of dollars. So that’s why we are constantly trying to strive for education and awareness.

The model of naturopathic medicine again, is very similar to functional medicine where you are trying to get to the root of the disease. And by doing that, you’re looking at the person as a whole, and you’re focusing on diet, lifestyle modification, etc. You’re working with detox and other natural interventions. So very similar to functional medicine, you will do your diagnostic tests to see what’s going on, and then offering these different modalities as the form of treatment to get to the root of it. I would say the only difference between that and functional medicine is that functional medicine is a type of medicine where MD’s who’ve gone to conventional medical school realize it’s not for them, so they go and get additional training in functional medicine. Versus with naturopathic medicine, you’re learning this in your schooling from the get-go right. So when you’re in your classes, not only are you learning about conventional ways to treat high blood pressure or high cholesterol or gut issues, but you’re also learning what alternative methods there are to treat this and other whole body ways to look at illness.

Now that you’ve explained the differences between these different modalities, who do you think would benefit the most from a naturopathic medicine approach?

Anyone who’s gone through the rigmarole of seeing different providers with their chronic health issues would be a good fit for the naturopathic/functional medicine approach. There’s a time and need for medication, there’s a time and need for surgery, but not everyone needs to be medicated all the time. Someone who’s wanting to get to the root of their problem and not put a bandaid on the situation would really benefit.

If I wanted to go about finding a functional medicine or naturopathic medicine practice, where should I start?

You could definitely start at Ciba Health. We have a telemedicine platform with many providers on staff who are functional medicine trained and who are doctors of naturopathic medicine and they will definitely help you get to the root of the problem. If that does not work for you, there are different platforms out there. For example, IFM, the Institute of Functional Medicine, if you go on their website, you can find a list of functional medicine doctors. You’ll also find a list of doctors on the state association pages naturopathic medicine.

Dr. Innocent Clement: I am the CEO and founder of Ciba Health. Here with us today is my Director of Wellness, Whitney Crouch. Today we’ll be discussing a very important topic, as it relates to collaboration between doctors, dietitians, and health coaches partnering to achieve maximum benefits for our patients.

Whitney, from your experience being the director of Wellness at Ciba Health, you know in the US today, patients have to jump through a lot of hoops to get an appointment with either their primary care provider or with a specialist.

Whitney Crouch: Yes, and there’s a lot of frustration given that patients have to bounce around from provider to provider, with each of these providers giving a different diagnosis or treatment plan. So again, this is really very difficult for the patient. I have seen patients go through a lot of difficulty with that and it really affects them.

Dr. Innocent Clement:  So how does this affect our patients, as they have to go through all these processes to be able to set an appointment and see a provider?

Whitney Crouch: With the current climate, during COVID, and even before the pandemic, this is really stressful and confusing for a lot of people because they’re being seen by different providers who specialize in certain parts of the body. They could be seen by an endocrinologist, or a gastroenterologist, or a neurologist. So patients are being looked at through the lens of that body part or system, but they’re also having to go into another office.

So there’s the office aspect. There’s this body part aspect. And then there’s this lack of communication between these different doctors, these specialists, or other care providers, because they may not share the chart notes. They may not have open discussion about the clients and really this affects the client’s outcomes.

This makes it so that as the patient, you may feel confused. You may not know exactly who’s driving your care plan. You may not know exactly what the strategy is, or what the priority is here. If there are a lot of asks that you have to work on for your health, it’s confusing. And at the end of the day, it’s the patient who suffers when balls are dropped or they’re just left confused and feeling unsupported.

Dr. Innocent Clement:  I’ve experienced this myself, and I know that it’s a lot of frustration for patients. So what can healthcare providers do to ensure that patients are receiving a streamlined, personalized treatment plan?

Whitney Crouch: So the most important thing is for providers to communicate as a part of a care team for the patient. If providers work together in a multidisciplinary group, they can easily communicate. If they’re not together in a multidisciplinary group, they should actually pick up the phone and call one another and discuss challenging aspects of the person’s health condition. That way, they can provide feedback and make sure that everyone is on the same page, and that details are not lost between providers and appointments. This also ensures the person is really viewed as a whole, and their whole story is shared. Different providers may ask certain questions one way or another, or even not cover certain questions. And that leaves gaps in the person’s history that could be very relevant to their treatment plan.

Dr. Innocent Clement:  This is a really important aspect of healthcare: communication. And providing that personalized plan, because every individual is unique. Now, looking at the conventional healthcare system and the way it’s structured today, they treat everyone the same, right?

It’s almost like a one size fits all approach. But we as providers should begin to look at healthcare from a different approach and look at patients as uniquely individual. By looking at their individual biomarkers we will be able to see how you can better support and optimize those health outcomes for patients.

Whitney Crouch: That’s right. Absolutely. I mean, it has to be personalized. Everyone is so unique, from their genetics to their epigenetics. Everyone has a very different glucose, or blood sugar, reaction. For example, if we ate the same size banana with the exact same amount of carbs, we could process that food vastly different. And you can extrapolate that out to everything in a person’s health. If we create a personalized environment where we’re looking at biomarkers, and where different care providers are assessing the same biomarker from a different perspective and applying it to their area of study, then those few biomarkers could mean the difference between a person’s declining health or their condition reversal and their wellness.

Dr. Innocent Clement:  Yes, absolutely. So with your insight into the industry today, how do you think these different care providers help the patient?

Whitney Crouch: There are so many care providers right now in the market, and I think it’s really important for everyone to educate themselves on what is out there and what their needs are – because we have different models in the healthcare environment now.

So we have the conventional model, where the patient goes to see the provider and the provider comes up with a care plan and the patient is on their way. And in this model, the patient carries that plan out themselves. The patient may check-in, they may call the office and say, “I have questions and I don’t know what to do.” But if they don’t get the help they need, they may feel lost, throw up their hands, and they’re done. And there is no healing beyond that point.

But the newer model that Ciba Health and others are emerging through is this inclusive, supportive model. So we have doctors, we have dieticians, we have health coaches, and it really takes that kind of a three-prong practitioner approach to support the patient. So for instance, we have a doctor who’s doing some deep-dive into what is actually going on, looking at what are called “functional lab tests” where we look at the whole person and the root cause of problems.

And then once you come up with a care plan that addresses the underlying issue, you need other people to support that care plan and to support that patient. And that could look like a dietician or a health coach, or a combination of the two, because diet and lifestyle are huge in reversing or preventing chronic disease.

Over 80% of chronic conditions are related to diet and lifestyle choices. So it’s not even good enough to just have a dietician or nutritionist visit and come away with a plan. It actually takes multiple visits with someone like a health coach who can help that person change their daily habits and make new habits in order to sustain positive health outcomes.

Dr. Innocent Clement:  Absolutely. We need that. It’s very, very important, looking at the healthcare system the way it is right now. What would be an ideal healthcare team, in terms of how you can better support the patient and empower them as they continue in their journey in the healthcare space?

Whitney Crouch: Right. So, I mean, there are some core providers that people would really benefit from to really instill these healthy habits. So creating a root cause care plan, and then being able to actually carry it out. Those are two different things, but together, you have the mental and emotional support and the daily habit formation.

So an ideal team could look like a primary care physician or a functional medicine doctor, in addition to a mental health provider, plus someone to help with diet and lifestyle choices. That could be a dietician or a health coach, or both. So we’re really looking at about two to four practitioners who collaborate and discuss the patient and share what’s going on. They should all look at the big picture and help the person to decide what their priorities are for their health and help them to learn where these new habits fit into their daily life. That way, the patient is empowered to make the changes and drive their own healing journey.

Dr. Innocent Clement:  Whitney, could you share our approach at Ciba Health, how we approach our patients, and how we support and empower them from day one?

Whitney Crouch: Absolutely. So at its core Ciba Health is a multi-disciplinary platform of providers. We are doctors, we are dieticians, we are health coaches, and we are mental health professionals who are reviewing your labs, ordering new labs and medications where necessary, and working on your diet and your lifestyle. We also work with you on your mental health and your ability to get to the root of what is causing illness. Basically, we work with you to peel back the layers of the onion. We look at your genetics, you unique biomarkers, and we track your progress. If you’re struggling, we help coach you. We can help you with your accountability and really with your whole lifestyle to change the trajectory of your life.

Dr. Innocent Clement:  Excellent. Thank you, Whitney, for sharing your insights and reminding us how important it is to have collaboration between doctors, dieticians, health coaches, and mental health professionals.

Are you achieving your goals? Did you make resolutions or set goals for this year and feel you’re falling behind? Maybe you already have given up on their goals completely. No matter which category you fall into, it’s not too late to still achieve success in your yearly goals. Reassessing and creating mini-goals might be an answer to your plan for success.

Why do I need to set mini-goals?

Mini-goals give you the power and give you the confidence that everything is in your hands. They allow you to set yourself up for success. Anytime you look at the big picture, you see a whole lot of stuff to do and start to feel overwhelmed and stressed. But when you break it down and take a step-by-step approach, you’ve got some manageable tasks that you can easily handle. Mini-goals allow you to feel small wins along the way instead of being disappointed by not seeing as much success as you would like.

How do I set mini-goals?

1. Start with your approach to goals:

Meeting goals is about making choices. There’s a lot of power and freedom in knowing that your choices can get you to where you want to go. No one is stopping you. Set parameters to follow every day, throughout the week and each month that will allow you to successfully meet your goals.

2. Change up the routine and create new habits:

Establishing new habits and routines will eventually lead up to meeting your overarching goals. No matter what goal you want to accomplish, from eating healthy, to learning a new skill, to breaking a bad habit, setting smaller mini-goals is going to help you get there. These smaller goals also help you get things done without overwhelming you.

3. Break your goals up:

Getting specific is really important. For example, if you want to establish healthier eating habits this year you need to break things down by making a series of mini-goals. As you make these goals inside of goals you will hone in on things more and more as you go.

For example, a monthly goal could be: Make a daily meal plan for the month with a focus on vegetables and healthy snacks. 

Weekly: Prep my lunches on Sunday evening for the week ahead.

Daily: Drink at least 8 glasses of water, limit yourself to one cup of coffee and cut out sugary drinks.

Just remember to keep your mini-goals simple and achievable. Don’t make them complicated. The whole concept of a mini-goal is to build your confidence and get you moving in the right direction. Mini-goals should get you to build momentum which will lead to progress. 

And here are some examples to help you get started: 

  • Stay offline one day per week
  • Meditate every morning
  • Read 20 pages per day
  • Journal every day
  • Get up when your alarm goes off
  • Set a regular bedtime and wake up time
  • Limit screen time after work
  • Start a gratitude journal
  • Do a social media detox
  • Take a ‘me’ day
  • Walk after lunch or dinner 
  • Drink tea instead of coffee/soda
  • Squeeze in 10 minutes of exercise per day
  • Eat more veggies
  • 30 days of yoga
  • Try meal prepping
  • Develop a workout routine
  • Drink more water
  • 30-day squat challenge
  • Try a new form of exercise
  • Go to bed at a reasonable time
  • Explore two new places
  • Learn something new
  • Declutter your home
  • Get started on one thing you’ve been putting off

Intermittent fasting is a nutrition plan that switches between periods of fasting and eating on a regular schedule. Many people use intermittent fasting as a way to manage your weight, but research shows that it might also help prevent some forms of disease. 

It’s important to check with your doctor before starting intermittent fasting. Once you get his or her go-ahead, the actual practice is simple. 

It can take two to four weeks before the body gets used to intermittent fasting. You might feel hungry or lose focus while you’re getting used to the new routine. But it’s very important to make it through the adjustment period. If you do, sticking with the plan will become way easier over time and you will start noticing changes in how you feel.

Every method can be effective, but figuring out which one works best depends on the individual.

Here are 5 popular ways to do intermittent fasting:

This about which plan that better fits your lifestyle and consult with a functional medicine doctor before implementing it. Consulting with a doctor is especially crucial if you have any underlying health conditions. 

Controlled breathing exercises can help keep your mind focused and body in shape, by helping to lower blood pressure, promote feelings of calm and relaxation, and relieve stress.

There are lots of breathing exercises you can do. It’s fun to experiment and see what suits you best. But you gotta start somewhere, right? The exercise below—belly breathing—is simple to learn and very easy to do. It’s the best way to start if you have never done breathing exercises before.

Belly breathing is also known as diaphragmatic breathing. The diaphragm is a large muscle located between the chest and the abdomen. When it contracts it is forced downward causing the abdomen to expand. This causes a negative pressure within the chest forcing air into the lungs. The negative pressure also pulls blood into the chest improving the venous return to the heart. This leads to improved stamina in both disease and athletic activity. Like blood, the flow of lymph, which is rich in immune cells, is also improved. By expanding the lung’s air pockets and improving the flow of blood and lymph, abdominal breathing also helps prevent infection of the lung and other tissues. But most of all it is an excellent tool to stimulate the relaxation that results in less tension and an overall sense of well-being.

Try this 6-step breathing exercise anytime you need to relax or relieve stress.

  1. Sit or lie flat in a comfortable position.
  2. Put one hand on your belly just below your ribs and the other hand on your chest.
  3. Take a deep breath in through your nose, and let your belly push your hand out. Your chest should not move.
  4. Breathe out through pursed lips as if you were whistling. Feel the hand on your belly go in, and use it to push all the air out.
  5. Do this breathing 3 to 10 times. Take your time with each breath.
  6. Notice how you feel at the end of the exercise.

Try to practice diaphragmatic breathing for 5 to 10 minutes 3 to 4 times per day.

Positive affirmations can be used to reshape and reprogram your thought patterns and change the way you feel about things.

They are short positive statements that can help you focus on your goals, get rid of negative thoughts, eliminate self-defeating beliefs and program your subconscious mind.

Professional athletes, for example,  figured out a long time ago that using willpower to power their success isn’t enough.

You need to let go of all negative thoughts and images and start bombarding your subconscious mind with new thoughts that are positive and stated in the present tense.

How do you do this? You begin with daily affirmations, which are simple statements that describe a goal in its already completed state. Here are fours steps to set you up for success: 

Step 1: Choose A Negative Thought

Think about what you’re trying to attract, and then think about the beliefs that might be stopping you from getting there.

Is there a specific trait that makes you feel insecure? Is there a negative belief you have internalized from early life? Or, is there a specific fear that seems to haunt you?

Step 2: Externalize The Negative Thought

Get this negative belief out of your mind and into the physical world by writing it down. This is a symbolic act that helps you to disconnect from this assumption rather than acting as though it’s part of you.

Step 3: Find The Opposite

Essentially, the opposite of the negative belief is the thing that you want to make the center of your affirmation.

Stay away from words with any negative association. This could include “can’t, won’t, don’t” etc. The more positive the language, the more effective is your affirmation!

If you’re really struggling to connect with your affirmation, try to find ways to soften the statement, at least when you’re starting out. For example, you might begin the affirmation “I am open to the idea that…” or “I am willing to start believing that…” (and after a few days or weeks, you can take down this softer language and use the more concrete form of the same affirmation).

Step 4: Commit To Repetition

The aim of affirmations is to eventually embed them in your mind so that they become automatic thoughts that guide and support you every day.

That said, you won’t be able to get to that level unless you really commit to repeating your affirmations daily. There is some flexibility about how you approach this. Some people find it most effective to repeat the affirmation multiple times at once. Other people prefer stopping every hour (or every few hours) to say the affirmation a single time. 

We recommend repeating your affirmation every morning right after you wake up. This will set the mood for the whole day. But you are free to choose whatever method and timing are best for you and your lifestyle. 

And here are 10 examples of positive affirmation to light up your morning routine. But we challenge you to make them your own by specifying what exactly you are willing to achieve.

  1. Mу bоdу іѕ healthy; mу mind іѕ brilliant; my soul is tranquil.
  2. I believe I саn dо anything.
  3. Everything that is happening now is happening for my ultimate good.
  4. I am the architect of my life; I built its foundation and choose its contents.
  5. I forgive those who have harmed me in my past and peacefully detach from them.
  6. My ability to conquer my challenges is limitless; my potential to succeed is infinite.
  7. Today, I abandon my old habits and take up new positive ones.
  8. I саn achieve greatness.
  9. Tоdау, I аm brimming with energy and overflowing with joy
  10. I lоvе and ассерt myself for who I am.

There’s no denying the benefits of social media. Along with making connections, these platforms can grow your business and be a valuable source of information and inspiration.  

While social media gives us access to an abundance of information, how much is too much? When used excessively, social media is scientifically-proven to trigger anxiety, lower self-esteem and damage your mental health. 

It’s human nature to compare yourself to others. However, comparison can quickly turn into idealization and lead to feelings of unworthiness. And the worst part? It’s completely unrealistic. All you’re seeing is the highlights, achievements, and everything presented in the best possible light. You aren’t seeing the full picture: the failures, disappointments, and low moments.

Besides causing feelings of insecurity and anxiety, social media is also highly addictive. Many people thrive on the validation that comes with the number of likes and followers they get. They spend hours scrolling, and even if they’re out socially, they are more focused on posting about their lives than living it. 

If you have unhealthy habits, taking a social media break is the first step to improve your mental state.

4 Steps to Improve Your Relationship with Social Media

Write down and assess your habits

First, you need to keep track of the amount of time you’re spending on each platform. How often are you checking? Is there a certain time of day when you’re more tempted to look? How long are you online? 

Next, ask yourself how you feel during and after. Write down the emotions you experience. It’s important to be as specific as possible. The more detailed your notes, the more you will be able to see patterns and triggers.

Set boundaries and come up with a plan of action

If you browse through your social media first thing in the morning, you could come up with a rule that you won’t go online until after you’ve had breakfast.

The goal is to set a reward system where you earn time on social media. Schedule specific times for browsing. This will improve your self-discipline and help you become less attached to it.

Fill your time with other activities

Spending less time online will not only make you more productive, but you’ll have more time for activities you enjoy. Read, go for a bike ride, meditate and whatever interests you.

Reflect on your new mental state

After taking a break for a week, ask yourself how often you’re tempted to check social media. How are you feeling? Is there an improvement since the beginning?

By taking a social media break, it will help you feel more in control of your emotions. 

You can continue with the break until you feel more mentally healthy. Everyone is different, so be patient with yourself! And if you have a weak moment, don’t dwell on it. With enough practice, this will become easier and a healthy habit you’ll want to embrace.

After following this step-by-step approach, please let us know how it worked for you!

When many of us think about a healthy, balanced diet, the first thought that comes to mind is probably the food pyramid, followed by a flashback of your teacher pointing to a diagram on the chalkboard.

Growing up, we were led to believe that carbs should make up the majority of our diet. Now, we know  6 to 11 daily servings of bread or pasta is the last thing we should be doing.

So, if the food pyramid is outdated what are the best nutrition guidelines to follow? Based on current research, here’s a breakdown of the food you should be eating, what to avoid, and how to measure your own nutritional intake.

1. Understand the big picture with calories

Calories are a measure of energy that come from the food and drink a person consumes. For example, if a beverage contains 100 calories, that’s how much energy your body could get from drinking it.

Many people look at calories incorrectly and focus only on the number of calories. However, there are several factors you should take into consideration: age, sex and physical activity level. As a general rule, men typically require more calories than women, and competitive athletes require more calories than the average person since they are burning more on a daily basis.

Also, think about the source of your daily calories. The calories that come from cookies, chips, and donuts are considered “empty” calories. To improve your health, avoid foods with empty calories and choose foods that are rich in nutrients.

2. Choose the right amount of each food group

According to the USDA’s “ChooseMyPlate,” you should be filling 50% of your plate with fruits and vegetables, 25% with grains, and 25% with protein foods.

Keep in mind this is a general guideline, and these numbers will vary slightly from person to person. 

3. Eat fresh, whole foods

To get the nutrients you need, you should be including fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole grains, and lean proteins.

Processed foods are often high in fat and calories, so your goal should be to eat foods as close to their natural state as possible. For example, choose potatoes over potato chips and grilled chicken over chicken nuggets.

If you’re unsure about a food’s nutritional value, read the label and check to see if there are artificial ingredients, preservatives, and additives. 

4. Avoid processed foods, refined carbs and added sugar

Not only are processed foods packed with artificial ingredients and preservatives, they contain unhealthy levels of sugar, sodium and fat. While these may make the food taste better, they can lead to chronic health conditions like high blood pressure, obesity and heart disease.

Refined carbs are low in fiber and nutrients, and can cause spikes in blood sugar. They have a high glycemic index, which leads to short-term fullness and overeating.

Added sugar tricks your body into eating more. As a result, it’s linked to weight gain and an increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.

To learn more about your individual nutrition needs, you can speak with a functional medicine doctor.

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