Naturopaths - Why I see three naturopaths and some updates on my health

I have been uber busy with visits to health practitioners of late which has left me little time to write or update my blogs. Apologies to my readers and the many wonderful foodies that I am dying to write about! But I digress... I have been seeing not one, not two but THREE Naturopaths in Cleveland, QLD Australia. Why, you ask? Well... mostly it is because of timing.

Gayle Bofinger, Naturopath

The first naturopath is located in the Ross Court which is very close to me and near Queensland Transport. I stumbled upon Allied Health after missing a bus to visit my Endocrinologist and made an appointment with Gayle Bofinger - one very busy lady who has clients all over the world. She is a specialist in Chrohn's disease (which I don't have - incase you were wondering) but it meant that my visits with her were a month apart. I was put on Stemtech stem enhance capsules (taken mid morning and mid afternoon each day)

Gayle created a herbal mixture to drink (three times a day); a Metagenics multivitamin (once a day); and put on a ketogenic diet called Keto Slim. My aim is ketogenesis - eating limited amounts of non-green carbohydrates so that I can start burning fat. In order to test whether I was in ketosis I would use ketone sticks to test my urine. Luckily I was already in ketogenisis and the colour strip changed colour to match the +++. It stayed that way until I was advised to re-integrage grains into my diet by my doctor. Big mistake! As soon as I limited my grains I was burning fat once more.



The other two naturopaths I have been seeing work out of my favourite health food store in Cleveland, QLD (Healthy Life - opposite Woolworths). I saw a sign with a $60 food allergy test. I was advised to remove salicylates from my diet as well as foods from the nightshade family. I had already changing my oils, condiments and switched to no dairy products (goat or sheeps milk cheese and yoghurt ok). I was given a bush flower essence to add to water and drink three times a day.

The third naturopath was very very concerned when I was shopping for herbs to reduce my blood sugar and boost my immune system. I told her what my blood sugar level was (25 = should be 6-8) and she is a biochemist that specialised in naturopathy for diabetics. I made an appointment to see her and she cleared a lot of things up re: diet and supplements. I am one very lucky girl to have such wonderful support and advice plus a fully stocked health food store so close to my home.

On Wednesday I had a follow up visit with Gayle who had the results of my heavy metals hair analysis.
Very interesting!

Yesterday I received the results of my food compatibility test based on a hair sample. You can view the results here.

=========== Dictionary ===========

Ketogenesis: the process by which ketone bodies are produced as a result of fatty acid breakdown.

Nightshade |ˈnʌɪtʃeɪd| noun a plant related to the potato, typically having poisonous black or red berries. Several kinds of nightshade have been used in the production of herbal medicines.

Salicylate |səˈlɪsɪlət| noun Chemistry a salt or ester of salicylic acid

Stem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide (through mitosis) and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells. In mammals, there are two broad types of stem cells: embryonic stem cells, which are isolated from the inner cell mass of blastocysts, and adult stem cells, which are found in various tissues. In adult organisms, stem cells and progenitor cells act as a repair system for the body, replenishing adult tissues. In a developing embryo, stem cells can differentiate into all the specialized cells (these are called pluripotent cells), but also maintain the normal turnover of regenerative organs, such as blood, skin, or intestinal tissues.