Seasonal Allergies: gut and liver connection

This month has two very important celebrations that I would love to connect. Making connections is actually one of the strengths of the functional medicine detection process that guides us to the root causes of illness and toward healing! I now invite you to take a pause and ask yourself, what does pride in owning one’s sexual orientation as LGBTQ have to do with brain health and Alzheimer's Disease? As not to leave anyone out- if you identify as straight or heterosexual, what could having pride in yourself have to do with your brain health and Alzheimer's? An important connection that I would like to make involves the nervous system. The brain is a central component of the nervous system, along with the spinal cord and nerves. Our nervous system influences and controls many bodily functions and is also influenced and controlled by many factors. Our emotional state highly influences our nervous system. Individuals who do not feel accepted to be who they are without being judged, criticized, ridiculed and loved by others live under tremendous stress. They often feel unsafe- emotionally and/or physically. Living with constant emotional stress and feeling physically or emotionally unsafe takes a major toll on the nervous system, including the brain, and can be one of many contributors to cognitive impairment. This constant level of stress can impair cognitive function. Stress is inflammatory to the body and brain. Stress affects neurotransmitter production, causing excess excitatory neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and epinephrine, which up-regulate our system which can unfortunately cause even more stress. Stress also causes increased cortisol, the stress hormone to be produced. An excess of these chemicals causes health consequences to many bodily systems. To name a few: Cardiovascular- increased blood pressure and heart rate Respiratory- shallow and rapid breathing that reduces oxygenation Musculoskeletal- pain and tension Endocrine System- sex hormone and thyroid hormone abnormalities due to the HPATG (Hypothalamus Pituitary Adrenal Thyroid Gonadal) Axis disturbance caused by high cortisol and elevated blood sugar that could advance to diabetes Immune system- Autoimmune disease risk increases significantly from chronic stress Gastrointestinal- GI issues due to parasympathetic and vagus nerve disruption And on and on! Every single system is affected by chronic stress in the nervous system. 

When people ask me what is one of the most important elements of healthy living, disease prevention and feeling one’s best I always include detoxing as a top priority. Then one of 2 things generally happens. People respond with a resounding, yes! Or I get the deer in the headlight look. I love to break down information for my clients because the more understanding into why something matters, the more follow through and greater benefit to the client will occur. Detoxing is so critical because we are exposed to toxins all day, every day, in our modern life through our basic survival needs and beyond. . Exposure comes through the air we breathe, water we drink, food we eat, personal hygiene products we ironically use to cleanse and care for ourselves and our living spaces. Additionally, extra exposures occur when we renovate our homes or offices; buy a new mattress, carpet, or couch due to the new materials off-gassing chemicals used in the manufacturing process. On top of this certain industries provide extra exposures, such as: mechanics, chemists, beauticians who work in spas and nail salons, artists, construction workers/contractors/mechanical engineers, hospital workers, farmers and more! The deer in the headlights look continues and people wonder, how to detox? People often ask- do I have to do a juice diet or not eat…they often imagine something hard and extreme. Yes, these types of detox’s do exist but must be short lived and thus are less effective. The best type of detox is actually one that supports your daily life rather than interfering with it. There are 3 important, simple messages I’d like to share regarding detoxing. First, living a detox lifestyle is an important way to provide self care to your body, mind and emotions. This means you are eating, drinking, moving, bathing and sweating in an intentional way that helps the daily toxins that flow in, to flow right back out. This preventative method significantly reduces toxin accumulation . Second, address stored toxins by doing a deeper detox dive over multiple months. Start with supporting your drainage pathways, which is “Phase 3” of the body’s detoxing cycle. For this I recommend a detox kit by Cellcore, which they named Phase 1…sorry for the confusion! This is Phase 1 of a detox protocol but in fact it supports Phase 3 of our own body’s detox elimination cycle. Once the body’s drainage pathways are open then deeper detoxing is safe, effective and comfortable, which I love to guide people through!. Thirdly, incorporate intermittent fasting on a regular basis. At the least, do a 12 hour fast overnight. But then build up from there. I strongly recommend that we discuss this further before doing longer fasts to maximize effectiveness and minimize unwanted results. In addition to detoxing support, fasting also supports longevity, cancer prevention and treatment, metabolic disorders- but when not done correctly, especially for a woman's body, it can actually cause unwanted hormonal changes. I would love to support your detoxing needs further so if you feel you are in need and ready for some detox support, please reach out. Wishing you all the best and so, so well! With love, Tracy Shulsinger, FNP

INHALED MOLECULAR HYDROGEN IS NOW AVAILABLE IN SCHEDULED PHYSICAL THERAPY SESSIONS

Heart health is a major concern for many people. According to the Centers For Disease Control Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) has been the leading cause of death since 1950. Many daily choices are based on heart health. These may include not smoking, exercising, limiting high fat foods, taking heart focused supplements/medications, heart medical tests, and more.

The next several blogs will be presenting a series of information about menopause. This topic is SO immense that it will take many months to share...besides menopause is a journey! This series will open with presenting an article, “Women Have Been Mislead About Menopause” in the New York Times that was published in February 2023. I tremendously appreciate this article due to the blend of compassion and sensitivity regarding women who suffer through menopause and the scientific reporting from many excellent sources including large and small studies and experts in the field. Menopause is a topic that I am very passionate about. It affects every single woman and despite this wide reach, there is still a high amount of reported confusion, distress and poor impacts to quality of life and global health reported by women during per-menopause and menopause. One healthcare topic that affects half of the population in the world is worth giving lots of attention! But yet there is tremendous controversy about this topic and many women report difficulty having a satisfying conversation w/ their providers about menopause- one where they feel well informed of benefits and not just risks, lack of judgment and a sensitivity to their experience. Here are some important take-aways from this article regarding the many signs and symptoms women can experience: About 85% of women experience symptoms during menopause Hot flash’s are too often all that is discussed and understood by women as menopause symptoms. In fact there are whole body, systemic changes as well. The severity and experiences vary woman to women but here is a more complete list of signs and symptoms: Brain: Vascular effects, cognitive changes/impairments, poor word finding, forgetfulness, short term memory disturbances. Mental/Emotional Health- Insomnia, depression, anxiety, irritability, reduced libido Skin/Mucous Membranes- Dryness to skin, mouth, eyes; accelerated skin aging in appearance and loss of elasticity Cardiovascular- Increased cholesterol Gastrointestinal- Digestive disturbances Genitourinary/Vaginal- urinary leakage/incontinence, dryness, painful intercourse, atrophic vaginitis, increase in infections such as “BV” (bacterial vaginitis) and yeast infections, excessive vaginal bleeding, unpredictable menstrual cycles, shortening or lengthening of menstrual cycle. Musculoskeletal- joint pain, bone density loss that can lead to Osteopenia and further to Osteoporosis Metabolic- weight gain and body composition changes including reduction in muscle mass and increase in belly fat

Glyphosate is a worldwide commonly used herbicide and is the primary toxic chemical in Roundup™, as well as in many other herbicides. Have you been eating a dangerous dose of poison without even knowing it?! Since the 1970s, we've seen a huge increase of a herbicide called glyphosate on our food crops - scientists estimate that over 150,000 tons are sprayed annually across America!

This month's blog is inspired by the times- back to school, approaching fall a.k.a cold/flu season and the increase in COVID cases amongst us. In fact I was exposed myself and am now nursing myself back to health. The functional medicine approach is quite simple when it comes to maintaining and improving health. Eliminate what doesn't belong in the body that contributes to disease and introduce or increase what supports health. In regards to viral illnesses such as the common cold and COVID, this approach is very helpful. While we still can be exposed and contract an illness, the severity of the illness can be significantly reduced by following dietary considerations and taking supportive supplements before, during, and after an illness.