ADRENAL FATIGUE & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

A recent article in The New York Times newspaper reports findings from a study in The Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism. Researchers measured morning cortisol levels in male and female test subjects with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and in subjects without CFS. Although cortisol levels were unremarkable across the male subjects, the female subjects with CFS were found to have lower levels of cortisol than those without CFS.

Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands that becomes elevated in individuals with acute stress. Cortisol elevates blood sugar levels, raises blood pressure, and suppresses the immune system to help the body cope with stress.

After prolonged periods of stress, however, the adrenal gland fatigues and is unable to produce enough cortisol. Individuals with low cortisol levels are said to have “adrenal fatigue.” Symptoms of adrenal fatigue include blood sugar dysregulation and hypoglycemia, low blood pressure, allergies, asthma, autoimmune disease and fatigue. Adrenal fatigue is one cause of chronic fatigue syndrome.

From a naturopathic perspective, having the right amount of cortisol is necessary for optimum health. At ALETRIS Center of Integrative Medicine, we measure cortisol levels in patients, especially those with general fatigue or chronic fatigue syndrome. Our treatment strategies are focused on restoring healthy cortisol levels and include nutriceuticals, botanical medicine, acupuncture, and natural hormone therapy.

ALETRIS Center of Integrative Medicine is a Scottsdale, AZ wellness center serving Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Phoenix, Glendale, Arrowhead, Peoria, Sun City, Chandler, Tempe, Ahwatukee, and Mesa, AZ with specialties in naturopathic medicine, natural hormone therapy, women's health, acupuncture, colon hydrotherapy, natural skincare and sugar hair removal.

The contents of this blog, including text, graphics, images and other material, are for informational and educational purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please seek the counsel of an ALETRIS physician or other qualified health provider with any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment.

Phentermine & Long Term Weight Gain

Physician-guided weight loss centers are popping up on street corners across the nation, and were even featured in a recent Oprah magazine. Many of these clinics are making claims of rapid and extreme weight loss in very short amounts of time by prescribing restricted diets that may include low calorie foods, meal replacement drinks and supplements. At one Arizona weight loss center, practitioners advocate a cup of tomato soup for lunch and a cup of chicken soup for dinner. You may be wondering how people survive on such meager calories and limited nutrition....The answer comes in a pill.

Phentermine is a prescription weight loss medication that is similar to an amphetamine. It acts by stimulating the central nervous system and increasing the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine. Phentermine increases heart rate and blood pressure and causes appetite suppression. Side effects of this drug include chest pain, heart palpitations, restlessness, elevated blood pressure, nervousness, bowel changes, headaches, insomnia, and dry mouth.

Phentermine also has a significant effect on an individual’s metabolism. Although Phentermine initially increases metabolism, we find that patients have a considerable decrease in metabolism after discontinuing the medication. Patients who have taken Phentermine in the past almost always regain the weight lost while on the drug, and have a much harder time losing weight for the rest of their lives.

ALETRIS naturopaths do not recommend rapid weight loss or the use of stimulant drugs to assist with weight loss. Naturopathic physicians advocate a whole foods diet combined with weight training and cardiovascular exercise to encourage maintainable, long-term weight loss and enhance general health and natural beauty.

To further investigate the cause of weight-loss difficulties, naturopathic physicians will evaluate labwork to find and treat the root cause of a patient’s inability to lose pounds. Common causes of weight gain and difficulty losing weight include hormone imbalance, adrenal fatigue, insulin resistance and thyroid disorder.

Bone DEATH

A recently released study in the Journal of Rheumatology shows that individuals with severe bone necrosis were three times more likely to have been treated with oral bisphosphonates. Bisphosphonates include the drugs Boniva, Fosamax and Actonel, which are used to treat osteoporosis by slowing bone turnover, which is supposed to increase bone density. Naturopathic physicians, however, have been arguing for years that the bone tissue these drugs create is not healthy.

Bone necrosis essentially means bone death. From a naturopathic perspective, if you slow down metabolism of bone enough, it makes sense that the tissue may die. Most individuals are unaware that bone is an active tissue, filled with cells that are constantly breaking bone tissue down and building it up again. Cells called osteoclasts are responsible for breaking down old bone tissue, and cells called osteoblasts are the ones that build new, fresh tissue. Stimuli like resistance training and Vitamin D activate osteoblasts to build up bones, while drinking soda or smoking promotes bone breakdown.

Naturopaths work with patients to eliminate causes of excess bone breakdown, while simultaneously promoting bone-building supplementation, foods, and exercise. We’ve seen bone scans improve many times with these simple changes, and we would never advocate taking a drug like Boniva or Fosamax to prevent osteoporosis.

ALETRIS Center of Integrative Medicine is a Scottsdale, AZ wellness center serving Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Phoenix, Glendale, Arrowhead, Peoria, Sun City, Chandler, Tempe, Ahwatukee, and Mesa, AZ with specialties in naturopathic medicine, natural hormone therapy, women's health, acupuncture, colon hydrotherapy, natural skincare and sugar hair removal.

The contents of this blog, including text, graphics, images and other material, are for informational and educational purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please seek the counsel of an ALETRIS physician or other qualified health provider with any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment.

Healthy BACK

A recent study in the September 24^th issue of Archives of Internal Medicine found that acupuncture relieved back pain better than conventional treatment. According to Heinz Endres, M.D., almost twice as many patients were helped with acupuncture treatments than any other treatments.

Low back pain is a notoriously difficult to treat and is an extremely common complaint. According to the National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke, Americans spend at least 50 billion dollars a year on low back pain and almost everyone will have at least one occurrence of low back pain in his or her life.

Back pain can arise from muscle, bone, joint, or ligament irritation. If the issue stems from a muscle or ligament problem, acupuncture will most likely be highly effective. A single acupuncture treatment, which may include tuina, cupping and/or moxibustion in combination with needle therapy, will give you at least partial relief if this is the case. If the issue arises from a joint or bone misalignment, acupuncture may not work as well. In any case, acupuncture is a great place to start in order to manage your low back pain. It is relatively inexpensive and completely safe in comparison to conventional treatments.

ALETRIS Center of Integrative Medicine is a Scottsdale, AZ wellness center serving Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Phoenix, Glendale, Arrowhead, Peoria, Sun City, Chandler, Tempe, Ahwatukee, and Mesa, AZ with specialties in naturopathic medicine, natural hormone therapy, women's health, acupuncture, colon hydrotherapy, natural skincare and sugar hair removal.

The contents of this blog, including text, graphics, images and other material, are for informational and educational purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please seek the counsel of an ALETRIS physician or other qualified health provider with any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment.

HEALING Takes Time

Patients often wonder how long it will take for them to heal. That question is a difficult one to answer because different areas of the body actually regenerate at different speeds. In any case, you are what you eat, and these cells rebuild themselves from the nutrients and water you supply them. If you give them junk for fuel, they will function poorly.

Changing to a produce-based, vegetarian, organic diet will change the quality of your health by providing better nutrition to your body’s cells as they reproduce.

Scientists have found that you:

Regenerate the cells in your body in 1 year

Regenerate the cells in your skeleton in 3 months

Regenerate the cells in your skin in 1 month

Regenerate the cells in your brain in 1 month

Regenerate the cells in your stomach lining in 5 days

As you can see, the timeline for many body cells is dramatically fast. So give them the highest quality raw materials and watch your health change dramatically.

ALETRIS Center of Integrative Medicine is a Scottsdale, AZ wellness center serving Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Phoenix, Glendale, Arrowhead, Peoria, Sun City, Chandler, Tempe, Ahwatukee, and Mesa, AZ with specialties in naturopathic medicine, natural hormone therapy, women's health, acupuncture, colon hydrotherapy, natural skincare and sugar hair removal.

The contents of this blog, including text, graphics, images and other material, are for informational and educational purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please seek the counsel of an ALETRIS physician or other qualified health provider with any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment.

Death by PLASTIC

Plastics are everywhere, and the ones that hold our food and water (water bottles, nalgenes, gallon jugs, tupperware, and ziplock bags), leach into our food and water. This leaching, called migration, has been regulated by the FDA, whose responsibility it is to ensure that only a safe amount of migration occurs.

Research has now shown that many of these chemicals not only cause cancer but also act as hormone disruptors.

After talking with patient after patient, the general consensus seems to be that softer plastics are more harmful to our health. Although it is a common misconception that hard plastics are safer, it is just not so. In the United States, plastic formulas are “proprietary,” meaning manufacturers do not have to tell the consumer the individual ingredients. Depending on the recipe, plastics may contain the most notorious plastic toxin, bisphenol-A. Bisphenol-A is a hormone disruptor that is implicated in infertility, benign prostatic hyperplasia, attention deficit disorder (ADD), prostate cancer, and low levels of testosterone.

Recently, a major Canadian retailer pulled all Nalgene and polycarbonate bottles from the shelf because these trendy, hard plastic bottles carry high levels of bisphenol-A. read the NY Times article

The lesson? No plastic is safe. Drinking water out of stainless steel water bottles or glass is the only solution.

Please visit ALETRIS links to find stainless steel water bottles and other natural solutions for healthy living.

ALETRIS Center of Integrative Medicine is a Scottsdale, AZ wellness center serving Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Phoenix, Glendale, Arrowhead, Peoria, Sun City, Chandler, Tempe, Ahwatukee, and Mesa, AZ with specialties in naturopathic medicine, natural hormone therapy, women's health, acupuncture, colon hydrotherapy, natural skincare and sugar hair removal.

The contents of this blog, including text, graphics, images and other material, are for informational and educational purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please seek the counsel of an ALETRIS physician or other qualified health provider with any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment.

Pea Protein for Health and Wellness

Many ALETRIS Center many patients have questions regarding protein consumption: How Much, What Kind, How Frequently...

In general, we recommend consuming no more that six to eight ounces of meat daily, and there is abundant research that supports eating a plant-protein-based diet. When consuming animal proteins, organic, free range chicken, turkey, and beef should be eaten in small amounts, and fish should be wild and consumed no more than two to three times weekly due to heavy metal toxicity concerns.

For many of our patients, consuming protein in the form of a drink powder is a quick and easy option. In choosing a powder, we tend to recommend pharmaceutical-grade pea-protein powder over ones that are soy, rice, or whey-based. Whey protein's amino acid profile has always proved superior to soy or rice protein; however, as naturopathic physicians we are aware that most whey used in protein supplements is not organic and comes from cows treated with hormones and antibiotics. We also see many individuals with mild intolerance to dairy and feel that whey may contribute to their allergic picture. Pea protein comes closest to matching the superior amino acid profile of whey.

Eating frequent meals that contain a small amount of protein during the day stabilizes blood sugar, which is beneficial for complaints such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, weight loss, and Type II diabetes.

Every patient is different, and lifestyle, body weight, and age all play a role in determining the correct dose of protein an individual needs.

If you have questions regarding pea protein powder, or would like to purchase a pharmaceutical-grade pea protein powder, please give us a call at 480-443-7168 or visit www.aletriscenter.com.

The contents of this blog, including text, graphics, images and other material, are for informational and educational purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please seek the counsel of an ALETRIS physician or other qualified health provider with any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment.

Colon Hydrotherapy for Constipation

NOBODY Talks About IT. Constipation affects more than four million Americans, most of whom are women. Many of these women do not know that having one to three bowel movements a day is vital to overall wellness and disease prevention.

Unfortunately we are a nation bombarded by pharmaceutical and laxative advertisements. These popular "treatments" simply mask the cause of constipation while promoting psychological and physiological dependence and worsening the condition itself.

Untreated constipation leads to body toxicity and disease. Its common symptoms include acne, body odor, bad breath, fatigue, allergies, headaches, irritability, abnormal blood pressure, insomnia, bloating, abnormal menses, and thyroid and hormone imbalance.

Treatment for constipation may include a series of colon hydrotherapy treatments, diet and behavior modification, herbal and fiber supplementation, and increased water intake.

Every woman is different, and every woman deserves customized treatment. At ALETRIS Center of Integrative Medicine in Scottsdale, AZ, optimal health is recognized to be more than the absence of illness.

You can read more about colon hydrotherapy, often called colonic irrigation, at www.aletriscenter.com

The contents of this blog, including text, graphics, images and other material, are for informational and educational purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please seek the counsel of an ALETRIS physician or other qualified health provider with any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment.