functional medicine Archives - Center for Holistic Medicine

If you’re like many people, you’re probably ready for the Covid-19 pandemic to be over. After nearly a year of social distancing, hand washing and mask wearing, many of us are eager to get back to normal life.

Unfortunately, even though more and more people are getting vaccinated every day, new, more contagious variants of the virus are spreading quickly, meaning that many more people could become infected in the next few months before they are able to receive a vaccination.

So what can you do to protect yourself? In addition to continuing to wear a mask and socially distance, Dr. Kelsie Lazzell, DC, DN, a functional medicine practitioner at the Center for Holistic Medicine, says there are also dietary and lifestyle choices you can make that can help support your body’s immune system, which may make you less susceptible to getting sick.

And, if you do get Covid, Dr. Lazzell says there are things you can do that may help your body fight off the virus, and to support your body after the illness to regain your energy and strength.

Here are some of Dr. Lazzell’s top tips for Covid health:

IMMUNE SUPPORT TIPS
Although there is no way to completely prevent getting Covid-19, there are steps you can take to support your immune system, which can make your body less susceptible to getting sick.

Eat a Mediterranean Diet
A Mediterranean diet is one that consists mainly of vegetables, fruits, beans, fish, protein, quality fats (such as olive oil or avocados), and complex carbohydrates. It does not generally include dairy, sugar or trans fats. This type of diet can help you reduce inflammation and boost your immunity.
Take a Vitamin D Supplement
Studies have shown that people who are Vitamin D deficient are more likely to get Covid-19, and also more likely to die from the disease. The best way to get vitamin D is to spend 30 minutes a day in the sunlight, but since we’re living in the Midwest in the wintertime, most likely you’ll need to take a vitamin D supplement. For proper dosage levels, consult with your healthcare provider.
Take Supplements to Reduce Inflammation
The goal of your immune system is to fight off foreign invaders, such as bacteria, viruses or our own damaged cells, also called inflammation. And the more inflammation you have in your body, the weaker your immune system will be overall, because your body can’t fight off too many things at one time. That’s why it’s a good idea to reduce as much inflammation as you can, so your body will be well equipped to fight off the Covid-19 virus if it enters your body.

Some supplements Dr. Lazzell recommends you can take to reduce inflammation include low dose melatonin, bioflavonoids like quercetin and green tea extract (two to three cups of green tea daily), turmeric, and vitamin A and C.
Reduce Your Stress
Did you know that your stress level also plays a huge part in how your immune system functions? When your body is under stress, your body releases cortisol, which suppresses the effectiveness of your immune system. “It’s important to maintain an active stress reduction routine,” Dr. Lazzell says. To reduce your stress, try breathing, meditation, or turning off the news. Dr. Lazzell also offers acupuncture for stress and anxiety reduction.

Dr. Lazzell also suggests trying a magnesium bath, because magnesium is a nutrient that is used in almost every cellular function in the body and is also one that many people are deficient in. To make a magnesium bath, simply add two cups of magnesium flakes, one cup of Epsom salt, half a box of aluminum-free baking soda, and one tablespoon of Himalayan sea salt to your bath water one to two times a week.
Treat Underlying Dysfunctions
When your body is fighting other underlying conditions, it can be hard for your body to have enough energy left to be able to fight off outside viruses. So if you’re suffering from gut dysfunction, heavy metal toxicity, metabolic syndrome or other underlying issues, you may want to see a healthcare practitioner to treat those conditions to keep your body as healthy as possible.

HEALTH TIPS DURING COVID

Take Higher Doses of Supplements Above
One of the unique aspects of Covid-19 is that once you’re infected, your immune system can go into overdrive, also called a cytokine storm. So once you have been infected, Dr. Lazzell says the goal is to dampen the immune response to prevent that cytokine storm. Dr. Lazzell says the best way to do that is to increase the dosage of the same supplements listed above: vitamin D, melatonin, vitamin A, vitamin C, and quercetin.
Take NAC
Because Covid-19 typically attacks the lungs, Dr. Lazzell also recommends taking NAC, which is a precursor to glutathione, the main antioxidant that can improve function in the liver and lungs.
Take Prebiotics and Probiotics
Another important way to support your health while you’re fighting Covid-19 is to make sure you have good gut health, because your gut flora comprises about 75% of your immune system. To do that, Dr. Lazzell suggests taking prebiotics and probiotics.

HEALTH TIPS FOR POST-COVID FATIGUE SUPPORT

Eat Low Glycemic Foods
After you recover from Covid, it’s important to maintain a healthy lifestyle that will help boost your energy. Dr. Lazzell suggests eating low glycemic foods; clean, quality proteins; and quality fats and avoid processed foods.
Take Supplements for Mitochondrial Support
Mitochondria — known as the powerhouses of our cells — help turn the energy we get from food into energy that our cells can use. Because people typically struggle with low energy after fighting Covid, supporting our mitochrondria is important in helping boosting energy levels. Lazzell suggests taking supplements such as NAC, CoQ10 and NAD, as well as supplements that
Supplements to Re-Activate Your Immune System
After suppressing your immune system during your bout with Covid, when you enter in the recovery phase it’s time to activate your immune system again. “Medicinal mushrooms are excellent here,” Dr. Lazzell says.
IV Therapy
Sometimes, getting vitamins injected directly into your body is the fastest and most effective way to get them into your blood stream. Dr. Lazzell suggests getting supplements like vitamin C, glutathione, and NAC through an IV, which you can get administered either at an outpatient clinic or at home from an at-home care provider.
Continue to Keep Stress Low
As you build up your immune system again, Dr. Lazzell says you should continue to manage your stress levels, because again, when your stress levels are elevated, it can dampen your immune system. So keep up your self-care routine of breathing, meditation, baths and anything else that keeps you calm and relaxed.

Make an appointment with Dr. Kelsie Lazzell today!

Do you suffer from chronic diarrhea, constipation, bloating, fatigue, headaches, brain fog, skin problems, or joint pain? If so, your issues may be due to something called Leaky Gut Syndrome, a condition that affect many, many people.

As Dr. Robynne Chutkan, an assistant professor of medicine at Georgetown University Hospital put it in an article in HealthyWomen, “[Leaky Gut] is likely to emerge as one of the most significant medical concepts of our time.”

Many conventional doctors agree that Leaky Gut Syndrome, also known as intestinal permeability, exists, but because we’re are still trying to understand the complexities of the gut, scientists aren’t completely sure what causes it, and there isn’t a single treatment for it, so many conventional doctors don’t treat it.

However, functional medicine doctors, who take more time with each patient to undercover the root cause of someone’s symptoms, are often successful at treating Leaky Gut Syndrome through dietary and lifestyle changes.

They basic concept is this: Typically, the main function of the intestines is to allow the nutrients from your food to enter your blood stream while keeping the toxins and undigested material in your gut so it can be excreted from your body. However, when you have Leaky Gut Syndrome, you may develop tiny holes in your intestinal walls (also known as hyper permeability), which allows toxins to escape through the intestinal wall. When those toxins enter the bloodstream, it triggers an autoimmune response, as your body tries to fight off the foreign substances.

“When molecules leak through into your circulatory system, your body thinks it’s something to fight,” explains Dr. Jerry Gore, MD, clinical director of the Center for Holistic Medicine, adding that this process can increase inflammation throughout your body and cause a host of other issues.

That means that issues such as rheumatoid arthritis, migraines, eczema, chronic fatigue system and more — which are caused by an increase in inflammation — may all be affected by the state of your gut.

So what causes Leaky Gut Syndrome? Most often, it is a direct result of eating foods that you are sensitive to.

Tanya Tanzillo, a functional medicine practitioner at the Center for Holistic Medicine, says that unlike food allergies, which cause an immediate response such as a swollen face or trouble breathing, food sensitivities can be subtler and harder to detect. “For example, you may be able to eat gluten or dairy and not feel any immediate repercussions, but if you have a food sensitivity to those things, they may go through your intestinal wall and then you’ll feel the effects a few hours or even a few days later,” Tanzillo says.

That’s why, in order to get to the bottom of what exactly is causing your Leaky Gut Syndrome, Tanzillo will often have patients do food intolerance testing and gut microbiome testing. Then she’ll work with patients to adjust their diet to eliminate foods that may be causing the problems.

The most common types of food intolerances are dairy, gluten, caffeine, alcohol and processed foods, although there are many others that may also cause problems for certain individuals. That’s why testing is so invaluable.

Because food sensitivities are so unique to each individual, there is no universal diet that can eliminate all food sensitivities. “Food sensitivities can be as individual as a person’s fingerprint, and it also has to do with not only what you eat, but how much of each type of food,” Tanzillo says. “Also, people may be surprised that many ‘healthy’ foods may cause sensitivities in people. For example, some people can be highly sensitive to legumes, eggs, avocadoes, smoked fish and more. So just eating a ‘healthy’ diet may not be enough to solve your problems.”

In addition to causing physical problems, Leaky Gut Syndrome can also lead to an increase in anxiety and depression as well. That’s because many of the neurotransmitters that control our mood are created in the gut, and when our gut flora is out of balance, it can affect how we feel.

Stress can also lead to increased intestine permeability, so finding ways to reduce your stress is another key part of getting Leaky Gut Syndrome under control.

After your food sensitivities are identified and your stress levels are under control, Dr. Gore then usually suggests that patients try working with an anti-inflammatory diet, as well as using supplements to help the gut wall heal, and adding probiotics to help enhance the immune system.

And Tanzillo says following a diet that promotes a healthy gut — which means getting enough fiber and avoiding foods that are high in sugar and unhealthy fats — is important, as well. “If we can keep the gut happy, we can really keep a lot of the negative symptoms at bay,” Tanzillo says.

Western medicine can be very good at certain things – fixing broken bones, providing vaccines for deadly diseases and more. But sometimes, people can go to the doctor complaining of certain issues and be told that they are fine, even though they know something just isn’t quite right.

That’s where functional medicine comes into play. “I can’t tell you how many patients come to me and tell me that they’ve been to the doctor and the doctor tells them nothing is wrong with them, but they just don’t feel like themselves,” says Tanya Tanzillo, DNP, a functional medicine practitioner at the Center for Holistic Medicine. “The whole idea behind functional medicine is how are you functioning? I look at four pillars of health – nutrition, sleep, exercise and stress – and if any one of those is not optimized, we work to get it into balance.”

Instead of prescribing a medication to improve the symptoms, functional medicine practitioners instead try to discover the root cause of the problem by getting a detailed look at the patient’s diet, lifestyle, stress level, hormone levels and other factors that may be contributing to the problem. Then they’ll recommend dietary, lifestyle or other changes you can make to resolve the issue.

“Functional medicine is a more effective way of treating chronic conditions, because very often people’s issues are related to stress, diet, lack of sleep, and sedentary habits. And changing those things are much cheaper than taking a pill, although changing your habits can be hard,” says Dr. Frances Baxley, MD, another functional medicine practitioner at the Center for Holistic Medicine.

And because every person’s daily habits, nutritional needs and chemical makeup are different, Tanzillo says every treatment plan is different, too. “It is an extremely personal care plan for that person,” she says.

Here are a few of the most common chronic conditions that functional medicine doctors treat, and how they go about treating each problem.

Chronic Fatigue
Feeling tired all of the time is not normal. And while it may strictly have to do with how many hours of sleep you’re getting at night, there may be more factors at play as to what is causing you to be tired. It may be due to sleep apnea, depression, stress, a nutritional insufficiency, or hormone imbalance. Baxley says she usually begins by having a detailed conversation with each patient about their sleep habits, diet, lifestyle and more to figure out where to begin making changes. “I think that’s what functional medicine doctors do differently. We get the patient’s full story,” Baxley says. “By doing active listening and reflecting back what they are saying, that can motivate their own insights. We’re just a guide holding the lantern.”
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
If you’ve been suffering from chronic diarrhea, constipation, bloating or cramping with an unknown cause, you’re not alone. In fact, 6 to 18% of people experience IBS. Similar to chronic fatigue syndrome, IBS may have multiple underlying causes – such as food intollerances, a gut bacteria imbalance, stress, and sleep problems. To determine the real culprit, Tanzillo starts with a detailed initial conversation asking about the patient’s sleep, stress and diet, and then she usually does food intolerance and gut microbiome testing. After Tanzillo gets the results of the tests, she may recommend dietary changes or suggest certain herbs or supplements to help get the patient’s gut flora back in balance.
Perimenopausal Symptoms
Menopause – when you stop having your actual period – usually happens when women hit age 50 to 55. But for about 10 to 15 years before that, women’s menstrual cycles starts to change as they begin to ovulate less frequently (called perimenopause). These hormone changes can cause everything from weight gain to trouble sleeping, irritability, a foggy brain and more. So if a patient in her 40s comes in complaining of one of those issues, Tanzillo says she’ll start by asking about their diet, exercise, stress and sleep, but then she’ll also run some hormone testing to determine if their hormone levels may really be the underlying cause of the problem. If so, Tanzillo may recommend bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, as well as dietary and lifestyle changes to mitigate the symptoms.
Chronic Allergies
Another chronic condition that often leads people to seek help from a functional medicine doctor is allergy symptoms. “Often times people are told to use antihistamines or nasal sprays on a continuous basis and sometimes people aren’t sure about that,” Baxley says. “A lot of times those allergy problems can be helped by addressing their food sensitivities.”

Baxley explains that unlike food allergies, which cause an immediate response such as a swollen face or trouble breathing, food sensitivities can be subtler and harder to detect, but can cause increased inflammation and lead to a host of issues, including post-nasal drip, chronic sinus congestion and more.

To determine what’s causing the inflammatory response, Baxley says she’ll usually begin by suggesting that the patient follow an elimination diet for four weeks, cutting out all dairy, gluten, sugar, nuts, alcohol, eggs, corn, soy, chocolate and coffee, and then gradually adding foods back in one at a time to see if they may be contributing to the problem. Or, if a patient doesn’t want to go through the elimination diet, they can choose to get tested for food sensitivities instead. “A food elimination diet can be really hard, but often once people do it, they’ll feel better and realize that all of their issues have gone away,” she says.

Interested in talking to a functional medicine practitioner? Schedule an appointment with Tanya Tanzillo or Dr. Frances Baxley today!

When some people hear the term “functional medicine,” they are often not sure exactly what it means — and many people assume that it’s something entirely different and apart from Western medicine.

In fact, functional medicine is based on the belief that each person is biochemically and genetically unique, and that what we need to heal is not the same for everybody. Functional Medicine is also based on the idea that almost all of our health issues are caused by a problem in either our immune system, gastrointestinal system or endocrine system, and when one of those symptoms is out of balance, it can affect all of the others.

Dr. Frances Baxley, MD, a Harvard University-trained physician who recently became certified as a functional medicine practitioner, says functional medicine is actually a discipline that fills in many of the gaps of that traditional medicine misses.

“I really like the way functional medicine marries together integrative medicine’s emphasis on lifestyle and alternative healing modalities with what science is teaching us about how treatments can be customized to address each person’s unique array of physiological imbalances,” Baxley explains.

For example, in traditional clinical settings, a doctor may ask about your symptoms and may prescribe a certain medication to help you, but he or she may not have them time to explore other things in your life that could be affecting your overall health, such as how much sleep you’re getting, what foods you’re eating and whether or not you’re under a lot of stress. Functional medicine practitioners explore how these lifestyle factors interact with a person’s unique biochemistry and then develop treatment plans in partnership with patients to address root causes of symptoms.

And it was this holistic, science-based and human-centered approach to care that really appealed to Baxley.

Baxley says that she first had the idea to become a doctor when she was in middle school in Pensacola, FL. “I’ve always found people very interesting and I liked science. So I thought, hmm, what about being a doctor?” Baxley says. “It was a fairly uninformed decision at the age of 12, but it turns out I love being a physician.”

However, when she began studying at Harvard Medical School in 2001, she quickly realized that people become doctors for all kinds of different motivations – love of research, epidemiology, procedural expertise, for instance– not all of which are centered around long-term relationships with patients and families. “In my graduating class, I think there were only five of us who wanted to go into family medicine,” Baxley remembers.

After graduation from Harvard Medical School, she completed her residency in family and community medicine at San Francisco General Hospital, where she worked with underserved, low-income populations. From there, she spent three years in rural New Mexico, where she provided full-spectrum care at a small Indian Health Service hospital on the Navajo Reservation.

And it was there that a colleague at Indian Health Service introduced her to the concept of functional medicine. “When she left the IHS, she started her own functional medicine practice and I found her descriptions of how she worked with patients to get to the root cause of their problems very interesting. So I attended an Institute for Functional Medicine conference and liked the approach,” Baxley says.

When Baxley became pregnant with her second son in 2012, she and her husband decided to move to the Chicago suburbs to be closer to her husband’s family, and since then she has been working exclusively as a primary care physician, first through NorthShore University HealthSystem and later as the Site Medical Director at Erie HealthReach Waukegan Health Center, where she also teaches family medicine residents from Northwestern’s McGaw Family Medicine Residency at Lake Forest.

Over the last few years, Baxley completed her coursework in functional medicine through the Institute for Functional Medicine, and now, Baxley is excited to join the staff at the Center of Holistic Medicine, where she will be able to treat patients of all ages with both traditional medicine and a functional medicine approach. She will also continue seeing patients in Waukegan with Erie Family Health Centers and teaching with the Northwestern residency.

“I thought functional medicine really brought me full circle to what I wanted to do when I started out in medicine,” Baxley says.

As both a traditional doctor and a functional medicine practitioner, Baxley says it’s important to her to spend a lot of quality time with each of her patients and to give her patients an opportunity to give her feedback to see if her assessment of their issues resonates with them. “It redefines the patient/provider relationship,” Baxley says.

As a physician, Baxley says we can’t underestimate how much our diet, lifestyle and environmental factors, such as pollution, contribute to our overall health, and she says stress is one of the biggest things that cause people’s health to become out of balance.

As a traditional doctor, Baxley is not someone who avoids prescribing drugs for people when needed, but she says changing your lifestyle can also make a big impact. “Drugs are incredibly important and definitely save and prolong lives,” she says. “But when you’ve lived for decades on drugs, but it’s never too late to make lifestyle changes that allow people to need fewer medications or lower doses.”

Contact us to schedule an appointment with Dr. Baxley today!

One of the great things about functional medicine doctors is that they don’t simply prescribe you a pill to treat your symptoms and send you on your way. Instead, they are focused on treating the root cause of your ailments (determined by specialized testing of the microbiome) and often suggest that you make dietary and lifestyle changes to lead a healthier life. In addition, they may recommend you take supplements to support your nutrition.

And while that may sound a lot better than being on medication for the rest of your life, making real, lasting dietary and lifestyle changes isn’t easy. After all, you’re probably spent your entire life eating what you eat and living the way you live, and changing your every day routines can be hard.

Anyone whose ever tried a diet and failed knows that just having the knowledge that something is good for you isn’t always enough to make new habits stick.

So how can you really make a change that will last? Here are a few important steps to creating new habits that really stick:

Believe you can do it
In the book, The Power of Habit, author Charles Duhigg says the most important factor in making any kind of change is believing we can actually change. “If you believe you can change – if you make it a habit – the change becomes real. This is the real power of habit: the insight that your habits are what you choose them to be.” So believe in yourself – you can do this!
Think positively
When your doctor tells you to get off of gluten, dairy, and sugar and start exercising regularly, are you filled with dread? Do you immediately start thinking of ways that you’re going to fail? Instead, Nora Aisenberg, a psychologist with the Center for Holistic Medicine, says it’s important to stay positive. To stay motivated, think of all of the good things you are doing for your body by making these changes. Embrace your new diet as a fun challenge, rather than a punishment. Have fun trying new recipes, and come up with some (non-sugar related) rewards for yourself for sticking to your goals, such as watching your favorite show, buying yourself a new book, or booking a massage for yourself as a treat.
Do it with a friend
Getting a lot of support from your family and friends is key to making lasting changes. One of the best ways to do that is to find someone who can make these changes with you. Try asking your spouse if he or she would be willing to make similar dietary changes, so you can make recipes together. Or see if you can find a friend who would be willing to sign up for an exercise class or meditation class with you. “There are clear factors that facilitate change, for example, social engagement, positive affect and praise,” Aisenberg says. “This is evident when people sign up for personal training, an exercise class, join weight loss groups or have an exercise buddy.”
Bring your own food
Headed to a kid’s birthday party, Cubs game, or neighbor’s backyard barbecue? Instead of indulging in the pizza and cake, or hot dogs and cheese fries, pack yourself a healthy meal to take with you. Don’t worry about being rude – remember, this is necessary for your health! And if you think the temptation will be too strong, you might want to avoid these kinds of triggering events in general for a while until your cravings are under control.
Work with a therapist
Usually, people assume you only need to see a therapist if you are feeling depressed or anxious. But in fact, working with a therapist while you are embracing new dietary and lifestyle changes can be a great way of getting the support you need to commit to your new way of life. “When people endeavor to make change, a therapist can create a positive mindset that frames attempts at change that don’t succeed as ‘trials,’ ‘practice,’ and ‘prep,’” Aisenberg says. “In looking at change this way, mistakes are seen as learning opportunities and the client is rewarded for effort and a willingness to take risks without labeling them as failure.”
Think about the reward you get from your bad habit
In order to change a bad habit, we need to understand why we were doing the bad habit in the first place. Usually, there was something that we got out of our habit, even if it wasn’t helping us. For example, if you usually reach for a cookie around 3 p.m., are you doing it because you’re tired? Or lonely? If the underlying cause is that you’re tired, try taking a quick nap instead. If it’s that you’re having feelings you want to avoid, such as loneliness, try making a phone call to a friend. Once you realize what the reward is that you get from your bad habit, you can find other ways to get the same reward through different behaviors.
Start small
Sometimes, trying to make a million changes all at once is a set up for failure. Instead, you may want to start small, conquering one new habit first before embarking on another new change. For example, if your doctor recommends that you eat a plant-based diet, you could start by eliminating meat and cheese three days a week, and then gradually increase it to every day. Or if you are supposed to get off of caffeine, you could start by cutting back to one cup a day, then switching to green tea before you ween yourself off completely.
Be patient with yourself
Remember, changing your eating and exercising habits isn’t easy, so be patient with yourself. If you fall off the wagon, don’t give up entirely. Just try to do better again the next day. It’s all a process. “People are fallible. No one is perfect and temptation is always there. The key is balancing pleasure and indulgence with health, well-being and mindfulness,” Aisenberg says. “Many changes take place incrementally, so we encourage patience, promote mindfulness and an awareness of the power of small changes over time making a bigger impact over the span of our life.”

Remember, changing your diet and lifestyle can be hard at first, but if you make a commitment to embracing this new way of life, you’ll be rewarded with reduced symptoms and better health your whole life through!

If you wake up every morning with achy and stiff knees, hands, back, neck or other joints, you may be suffering from arthritis.

There are two main types of arthritis: osteoarthritis, which is often caused by old age, and rheumatoid arthritis, which is caused by an autoimmune disorder. But no matter which type you have, the end result is that the cartilage between your joints gets worn away, causing your bones to rub against each other, causing pain.

As the pain increases over time, people often rely on medications and daily dosages of NSAIDs (non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs) to keep the symptoms at bay.

However, long-term use of NSAIDs can additional problems, such as gastrointestinal issues, heartburn, liver and kidney problems and more. And taking brand-name arthritis medications can be costly and have their own side effects as well.

That’s why many Americans are increasingly looking for holistic approaches to lessen their arthritis symptoms and even reverse some of its effects. Here are a few holistic approaches you can try that don’t involve medication:

Warm yourself up
If you’re looking for a simple, home remedy to ease your stiff joints, find ways to warm yourself up. The Arthritis Foundation recommends starting your day with a warm shower or bath to ease morning stiffness or head to the gym and relax in a hot tub. Try applying a heating pad for up to 20 minutes (just make sure you use a cloth barrier so you don’t burn yourself), or for an even cheaper option, just put a wet washcloth in a freezer bag, heat it up in the microwave, and wrap it in a towel before applying for 15 to 20 minutes.
Apply cold
If you are experiencing more acute pain, rather than joint stiffness, you might want to try cold therapy instead. Cold packs will reduce swelling and numb nerve endings, which should help dull pain. You can buy a gel cold pack at the drugstore and put it in the freezer so it’s ready when you need it. (These usually come with straps that make it easier to wrap around your joints). Or you can make your own ice packs using frozen vegetables or ice in a plastic bag, covered by a towel to protect the skin. And just like heat, keep the pack on for no more than 20 minutes at a time.
Adjust your diet
Rheumatoid arthritis is caused by an autoimmune condition where the body’s immune system starts attacking its own cells, a process called inflammation. So one of the best ways to counteract this type of arthritis is to focus on eating anti-inflammatory foods.

“Awareness of inflammatory foods is important for people with arthritis,” says Patricia DeAngelis, a functional medicine practitioner at the Center. “What we eat can trigger arthritis symptoms.”

She recommends eating lots of fresh vegetables and limited fruits, as well as foods that provide omega 3 fats. “Eat organic as much possible,” DeAngelis says. “Use the Environmental Working Group’s Clean Fifteen and Dirty Dozen lists as a guide for choosing healthy produce.”

Some good foods to eat include:

Wild-caught fish (salmon, mackerel, cod, tuna, and sardines)
Grass-fed lamb and buffalo meat
Almonds, walnuts, and flax
Dark, leafy green vegetables
Red and blue-colored fruits and vegetables
Extra virgin olive oil and olives
Spices such as tumeric, ginger, oregano, garlic, rosemary, cayenne, cloves, and cinnamon

DeAngelis also recommends avoiding trans fats, refined sugar, high glycemic foods, food with high omega 6 oils (such as refined vegetable oils), gluten, saturated animal fats from grain-fed red meats, dairy, and high-temperature cooking.

However, everyone’s response to foods can vary slightly, so DeAngelis recommends using an elimination diet to determine which foods trigger your symptoms.

4. Try Spinal Decompression Therapy
If your arthritis is causing back pain, one good option to try is spinal decompression therapy. Spinal Decompression Therapy is a safe and comfortable treatment that involves lying down on a special table and putting your spine in its proper position. This creates more space within each individual vertebra, which decompresses the joints and alleviates the pain of spinal arthritis.

What’s more, Dr. Mitchell Katz, a chiropractor at the Center for Holistic Medicine, says several studies have shown that spinal arthritis (also known as degenerative joint disease) can actually be reversed through the use of Spinal Decompression Therapy. “If you or anyone that you know is suffering from the pain and discomfort of spinal arthritis, Spinal Decompression Therapy might be extremely helpful,” he says.

5. Try Naprapathy
Another technique for relieving compression on joints is naprapathy. Usually, muscles and soft tissues become tight from overuse, and that tension can cause compression on the joints, making the bones rub together even more. By manually manipulating the soft tissue that surrounds the joints, naprapathy helps reduce that compression and relieve pain.

Dr. Richard Bisceglie, who practices naprapathy at the Center for Holistic Medicine, says he also gives patients suggestions for stretches and exercises they can do at home to help relieve pain, too.

6. Use Lasers
Cold laser therapy and infrared light therapies are another safe, non-medical way of reducing the pain associated with arthritis. “Both are frequency-based therapies that reduce inflammation between the joints,” explains Dr. Bisceglie, who administers both treatments at the Center. Both cold lasers and infrared lasers are FDA-approved medical devices that a medical professional holds over your affected area to sends photons of light through the skin. The light helps injured cells restore their mitochondrial function, resulting in reduced inflammation and a reduction in pain.

7. Try Acupuncture
According to Chinese medicine, pain is caused by energy blockages throughout your body, and Kenji Aoki, a licensed acupuncturist at the Center for Holistic Medicine, says acupuncture is extremely effective at reducing the pain of osteoarthritis simply by opening up all of your meridians and balancing your energy.

However, However, Aoki says we must distinguish the treatment for osteoarthritis from that for rheumatoid arthritis because the root causes are different. Just recently, Aoki attended a training in Japan on a new technique used to treat rheumatoid arthritis that has shown amazing results. In this technique, Aoki inserts an extremely tiny needle (0.3 mm) in a specific acupuncture point and then the patient wears the needle in their body for one week until they return back for a follow-up visit.

“Rheumatoid arthritis is a very deep issue, and the energy imbalance isn’t easy to correct,” he says. “So this technique is a very, very delicate treatment, but it is very, very effective.”

At the Center for Holistic Medicine, we believe that a combination of holistic treatments can often provide the best results. If you come in for pain relief, we usually suggest meeting with DeAngelis first, who can use blood testing to determine the root cause of your problems. She will then make suggestions about which other pain relief treatments may be best for you.

The Center for Holistic Medicine is pleased to welcome Patricia DeAngelis, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, a certified family nurse practitioner, to our practice where, starting in November, she will be treating everyone from children to adults.

With a Bachelor’s of nursing from Rush University and a Master’s of Science in nursing from Olivet Nazarene University, DeAngelis is well-versed in traditional therapies and licensed to do everything from ordering lab tests, to diagnosing illnesses and conditions and prescribing medications.

But in addition to her traditional nursing background, DeAngelis has also studied functional medicine — a method that looks for the root causes of illnesses, rather than just treating the symptoms.

As a functional medicine practitioner, DeAngelis encourages her patients to change their eating and lifestyle habits to address their health issues, rather than simply prescribing them a pill, so they can truly lead healthier lives.

We recently caught up with DeAngelis to ask her more about why she decided to become a nurse, how practicing yoga has influenced her, and why she’s excited to join the Center.

How did you first get interested in nursing?

DeAngelis: My mom was a nurse and she got her Master’s degree in nursing, so we were always talking about health and medicine. I had that at the dinner table all the time. Also, I just really wanted to help people.

In medical schools, most doctors aren’t taught about the importance of nutrition or exercise for a person’s health. How did you become interested in how people’s lifestyle choices affect their health?

DeAngelis: Originally, I worked in surgical intensive care. I would look at these liver transplant patients, and I would think, “How did you get this way?” I was also very impressed by these 90-year-old women who would have surgery and they would bounce back after a few days. And I started asking questions about their lives. And the ones that were healthy almost always would describe a healthy lifestyle.

After working as a nurse for several years, you left nursing to raise a family. How did raising four boys open your eyes to many people’s unhealthy habits?

DeAngelis: My kids were really into the arts – band, theater and show choir. I’d go to all of these events and the refreshments would be like a food desert. All the kids had access to eat would be fast food, pizza and soda. So, I’d bring all this healthy food on the road. I first started introducing healthy options to kids when my boys were younger and they played various sports. I remember having the basketball team over to my house and I put out all this healthy food… Many times several of the kids would have never tried different types of vegetables etc. before, but they would say, “This is really good!”

Can you explain more about what functional medicine means?

DeAngelis: The functional medicine model is grounded in traditional and integrative science. The functional medicine model of care targets the root cause of changes in a person’s health using a system-based approach that is based in biology. At the center of the model is mental, emotional and spiritual balance. We look at the individual’s lifetime story and use different biomarkers to appreciate how your body developed certain conditions. Many chronic diseases can be related to a clinical imbalance. I partner with a person to implement a plan to restore balance and improve health. My recommendations that target symptoms and disease resolution can involve traditional prescription combined with perhaps nutritional supplements, natural products, changes in food, lifestyle behaviors, and stress reduction.

You are also trained as a yoga instructor. How did studying yoga influence you as a health professional?

DeAngelis: Yoga means to “yoke” or bring together mind, body, and spirit. Yoga is more than a physical practice. It’s a way of living. Studying yoga has taught me to help others learn to achieve mind body balance as an essential key for health.

Why are you excited to join the Center for Holistic Medicine?

DeAngelis: Many of the practitioners here share the same philosophy I do that you have to take care of your mind as well as your body. You can’t separate the two. Also, I definitely want to practice where the goal is to use all different modalities to find health. It takes a village to get someone healthy. It takes looking at and treating the person as a whole being. So it was natural for me to come here.

Have you ever been to the doctor complaining about certain symptoms, only to have the doctor say that there isn’t anything technically wrong with you – even though you’re sure you don’t feel well?

For millions of Americans who suffer from chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis and more, this is an all-too-common occurrence at regular doctors, and it’s precisely what Functional Medicine doctors are solving through research-based testing.

The term Functional Medicine was first adopted by Dr. Jeffrey Bland, who founded the Institute for Functional Medicine with his wife, Susan, in 1991.

At its core, Functional Medicine is based on the belief that each person is biochemically and genetically unique, and that what we need to heal is not the same for everybody. Functional Medicine doctors usually recommend that patients take specialized tests, which allow give doctors a glimpse at how all of your various systems are working together and give you a treatment plan that is tailored to you.

“Functional Medicine is looking at how well the body is functioning,” explains Katie Bogaard, a naturopathic practitioner who practices Functional Medicine at the Center for Holistic Medicine. “A regular doctor would treat the symptoms, but Functional Medicine looks at the underlying cause. It looks at more of the big picture.”

For example, if you have high cholesterol, a regular doctor may prescribe you a drug to lower it, but he may not try to find out exactly what is going on in your body to lead to the problem in the first place.

Functional Medicine is also based on the idea that almost all of our health issues are caused by a problem in either our immune system, gastrointestinal system or endocrine system, and when one of those symptoms is out of balance, it can affect all of the others.

How Does Functional Medicine Work?

When you go to see a Functional Medicine doctor, the first thing you will do is give him or her a detailed personal history. Then the doctor will usually recommend that you take a variety of tests to determine how well your gastrointestinal system, endocrine system (which includes your thyroid, adrenal glands and sex hormones), and your immune system are functioning.

For example, Bogaard says she often has patients take a test called GI Effects Comprehensive Stool Profile, which can determine if you have any infections or inflammation in your gut, how well you’re digesting and absorbing certain nutrients, and if you have any imbalances in your gut flora. Bogaard will then read your individualized report and make recommendations about particular supplements to take or dietary changes you should make.

She may also suggest that her patients take salivary tests and blood tests, which can measure your levels of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, the level of cortisol produced by your adrenal glands, and your thyroid. Bogaard explains that all of these different systems work together and influence each other, so when one system is not functioning properly, all of the others may be affected.

For example, if you are producing too much estrogen, you could struggle with losing weight, and that could affect your thyroid. Or, if you are under too much stress, your adrenal glands could be producing too much cortisol, which could lead to chronic fatigue and a weakened immune system.

Bogaard says even if you are in general good health can benefit from seeing a Functional Medicine doctor, who could have you take a micronutrient test to determine whether you are on the right supplements and what other supplements you could be taking to optimize your health.

If you’re interested in learning more about how Functional Medicine can help you, you can make an appointment with either Dr. Jerry Gore or Katie Bogaard.

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