What’s the best nutrition plan for your health?

Natural Foods

Naturopathic medicine treatment plans always focus on nutrition as a foundation! As a naturopathic doctor, I frequently get asked by my patients what diet they should follow for optimal health?  While there are general recommendations that are good to follow, like eating real food and not processed foods, there isn’t one diet plan that is best for everybody.  I explain that personalized nutrition is the key to feeling their best and reaching a vibrant state of health! In order to provide the best recommendations for my patients, I test their micronutrient levels, which then allows me to create their individualized nutrition plan so they can get optimal results quickly!

Most Americans are exceeding their caloric macronutrient needs, but not meeting their micronutrient requirements.  Micronutrients include vitamins and minerals that are essential to optimal health. Nutrients are required for every metabolic process in the body including proper immune function, supporting energy levels and cognition, synthesizing hormones and neurotransmitters, and preventing chronic disease.  The field of naturopathic medicine focuses on finding the root cause of your symptoms. Micronutrient insufficiencies can be one of the root causes and testing should be considered in cases of chronic disease.

Nutrient insufficiencies can occur for a number of reasons, including:   

  • Lack of consumption of nutrient dense foods or not eating a variety of foods
    • This is why many naturopathic doctors recommend “eating the rainbow” to get a variety of different colored foods into the diet.
  • Nutrient depleted soil
  • High heat cooking methods
  • Malabsorption due to digestive tract disorders
  • Chronic illness, which leads to a higher need for nutrients 
  • Certain medications that deplete nutrients

The most ideal way to evaluate your nutrition status is to complete a specialized test that assesses if there is a sufficient level of each nutrient to be used at the cellular level, not just a standard serum test.  At Vibrant Natural Medicine, I complete a Cellular Nutrition Assay test, that measures 97 items, including vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants. This is one of my favorite lab tests! It provides so much information that can be immediately incorporated into a personalized naturopathic medicine plan!

This test can be beneficial for anyone, but I most commonly recommend the Cellular Nutrition Assay in the following conditions:

The value of the information gleaned from micronutrient testing is priceless!  You get a truly individualized nutrition plan, quicker results, and you aren’t wasting money on supplements that you don’t need.  My patients have reported feeling more energy, reduced joint pain, and less brain fog within a few weeks of implementing their specific nutrition and supplement recommendations.   

I also frequently combine food sensitivity testing with micronutrient testing to provide even more detail on the most ideal nutrition plan for each individual.  Even healthy foods can spike inflammation.  We need to test to figure out which foods are creating inflammation!  Elimination diets are cumbersome and are more suited for trialing reactions to a few large food groups like eggs, gluten, dairy, and sugar.  With food sensitivity testing, we test 94+ foods and a candida antibody screen.  This will show what other foods might be culprits impacting our health and if there is something called leaky gut, which needs to be addressed to improve nutrient status and overall health.  For more information about food sensitivity testing, check out this post: Are the Healthy Foods You are Eating Making You Sick, Fat, and Tired?

Are your cells getting the nourishment they need?  Let’s test to find out and not guess. Holistic health starts with nutrition and micronutrient testing is one of the best ways to assess your nutrition status.  For those who don’t live in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area, it’s still possible to complete this testing in most states so reach out to my office at 918-995-7001 to schedule your consultation.   

In vibrant wellness,

Dr. Sara Gomendi

 

 

Vibrant Natural Medicine | Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Solution for Micronutrient Testing and Optimal Diet Support

Naturopathic Doctor | Holistic Practitioner | Natural Medicine | Functional Medicine | Tulsa Thyroid Specialist