I see that you offer phone consultations which are great because I do not live in the area! But how does that work? Can we still run some tests if needed?
We see patients from all over the country and find phone consultations very convenient. In fact, about 30% of our patients do their consultations via phone. When you first set up your appointment, we will email you an intake form which you can fill out and email back to us. If you are not email savvy, don’t worry, you can always send your filled out form by regular mail or fax. As with an in person consultation, we will set up a full hour for your initial consultation. Everything we talk about in person we can talk about over the phone and any handouts would be emailed to you for your information following our call.
All of our tests are done with kits which you perform in the comfort of your own home because most need to be done at a particular time of day. The appropriate kits will be mailed to you and include everything you need to take the sample along with detailed instructions. Once samples (hair, saliva, urine) are collected, you simply mail them directly to the lab in a prepaid envelope. This makes it easier for all patients and you do not have to physically be at the office to do the tests. If a test requires a blood draw, we can direct you to a lab in your area or set you up with a mobile phlebotomist who can come to your home or office to draw your blood.
If you do not live in the area, a phone consultation can be a great way to get your health on track and you will get all the same benefits as our in office patients. And best of all, you never have to leave the house.
My friend did one of your tests and I want to get it done as well. Do I need an initial consultation first?
We normally do an initial consultation so that we can get a detailed health history on each patient and recommend the tests that would be the most beneficial for them. Depending on your concerns and goals, the tests that are best for you may be different than for your friend. Furthermore, a big part of the initial consultation focuses on eating habits and food education so that you know which foods are best, how to combine them and time meals properly. This process guarantees the most success and the quickest results with your program.
Can I just order a test and have the results sent to me without having a consultation at all?
Unfortunately this is not possible because all test results require a lot of interpretation and explanation. You would not be able to understand the results on your own and you would also not know what would be recommended to fix imbalances without going over the results. It typically takes us a full hour to go through your results as we go line by line explaining exactly what we found and put together a plan of action.
If I have deficiencies, is it necessary to take nutritional supplements or can I fix them with food?
This is very individual and depends on the severity of the deficiency. If there are slight imbalances, it is very possible to increase or decrease certain foods to get things in balance. However if the imbalances are large, it would be nearly impossible to consume the amount of food needed to raise the nutrient level. Furthermore, foods rarely contain just a few nutrients as the vitamins and minerals are there in combination so if you are low in one but have too much of another, its hard to find a food that only has high amounts of the mineral you need and does not contain minerals that you do not need. Consuming more of that food would increase not only the mineral you are missing but the others as well so even though all levels would be higher, the missing mineral would still be lower than the rest and balance will not be regained.
Once I find out my deficiencies and get recommendations for which supplements I need to take, will I need to take them for the rest of my life?
Absolutely not! Our goal is to find your deficiencies and fix them as quickly as we can. This usually requires supplementation for 3-6 months to get your levels in the correct range, but once they are there, you can maintain them with proper diet and a maintenance regimen of a good multi-vitamin if needed.
Is there a difference between supplements I can get at CVS, a health food store and at your office?
There is a huge difference in the quality of supplements on the market today. Drug store brands are normally the cheapest, and when it comes to nutritional supplements, unfortunately you get what you pay for. Drug store brands use poor quality raw materials thus creating a subpar product. Furthermore, many of these brands contain fillers, preservatives and even artificial colors which are detrimental to health. Health food store brands are a step up from drug store brands and usually use more natural and better quality raw materials. However because supplements are not regulated by the FDA, there is still no accountability and its hard to tell which are best from the hundreds of brands that exist.
The supplements that we use in our office are professional brands. They use the purest raw materials backed by years of research and manufacture them with the highest technology to preserve and maintain integrity and purity of their ingredients. These brands go against the most stringent guidelines and come with certificates of analysis so we know exactly where the nutrients and herbs are coming from. They are typically much more potent and therefore not available in stores. Furthermore, because these brands are used by healthcare professionals, the manufacturers have a lot more accountability.
Many of our products are also custom-made for you based on your results which enables you to take less pills but get more needed nutrients as they are combined for your convenience.
It is of course your choice on where you get your recommended supplements and we never want you to feel forced to get them through us. We are happy to evaluate any brand you may already have and help you find the best option because quality plays a huge part in the success of your protocol.
