What Should I Eat If I Am Constipated?

September 24, 2018 by / Leave a Comment

Constipation pain in kids is hard to watch.  Even as an adult, it is miserable and search for constipation relief.  Chronic constipation cause us to ask some of these common questions.  Most common is, “what should I eat if I am constipated?”  Knowing what food causes constipation can be helpful and most integrative doctors will encourage you to focus on simple diet changes such as avoid dairy and processed foods while increasing your fiber in fruits, veggies, beans and grain intake.  Definitely making sure you get your water in daily is important.  Probiotics, prunes, magnesium, massage can also be great tools.  There are holistic medicine options you can do from for chronic constipation.  This still doesn’t answer the another common question of “why do I get constipation so easily?”

Food intolerances can be something that triggers constipation.  these mysterious, sometimes even perfectly healthy foods can take days to cause the constipation.  Fortunately nowadays, Naturopathic doctors can run a food intolerance test or a panel of 184 foods based on your IgG memory of your food reaction.  This is different from the IgE food allergy test that your integrative doctor would may offer you.  If may still be helpful but IgE allergy tests don’t provide the answers to what foods may be causing you or you kids chronic constipation.  Natural medicine is focused on finding those holistic health options that work.  It is an alternative medicine way of thinking about constipation trouble.

Another common question, “Is Miralax Safe for kid?” Even the manufacturer says that Miralax is for occasional constipation.  Unfortunately, it is often the only option given to parents as a help for their kids and doctors encourage parents to administer to kids because they really don’t know of other options.  Alternative medicine has many natural remedies for constipation relief but they usually only work temporarily.  Only a Naturopathic approach of getting to the cause will help you solve the constipation once and for all.  Identifying food intolerance may be the cause for some, identifying gastrointestinal infections or inflammation may be another’s cause.  Each person is an individual and Naturopathic medicine takes this into account using tools such as unique labs as well as herbs, nutrition, diet, hydrotherapy, homeopathy and so much more.  The right combo for you or your kid can help pooping naturally become a regular thing.

What can you do for chronic constipation? We specialize in this kind of thing so constipation is not a new idea for us. Getting the right care tailored for you or your child’s specific body and situation is key to success in your health.  At Journey of Health Naturopathic Clinic we are dedicated to finding the right integrative solutions for each patient. We proudly serve the San Diego area, providing some of the best service in Naturopathic medicine. If you wish to further your own journey of health with Naturopathic solutions and Alternative medicine, give us a call at (619) 772-1164.  We offer free 10 minute consults so you can see if we are the right fit for you and you family.  Reach out and learn more about your holistic medicine options today!

Filed Under: Allergies, Digestive, Homeopathy, Pediatric Health

Natural Solutions to End Irritable Bowel Syndrome

September 21, 2018 by / Leave a Comment

Imagine not having to worry about where the next bathroom is!  Irritable bowel syndrome is disruptive daily life and the ability to live or be creative in life!

There are many typical natural medicine or alternative medicine tricks that you may have already tried such as regular meals, exercising and avoiding food problems.  How do you know what your food problems are though?  Fortunately we have food intolerance testing that can take the guess work out.  It is often thought of as allergy testing.  We test up to 184 food markers in 2-3 parts of your activated immune system.  These are simple finger sticks available in our office so you no longer need to guess what foods may or may not be bothering you.  It can take 2-4 days to get a reaction to a food since it is a delayed reaction so it is no wonder you can figure out what is bothering you or your child’s belly!  Food intolerance tests will identify the foods that cause the IBS symptoms so you can start getting some relief.

You may also experience bloating and gas with your irritable bowel syndrome.  Bloating almost always has to do with two things- digestion or bugs.  Digestion can mean a lack of pancreatic enzyme active for a variety of reasons, food intolerances which can be hard to get nutrients from and sometimes just food combinations.  Bugs can mean a variety of microbial imbalance of infections, whether parasitic, worms, protozoa or bacterial.  Flares can be from the imbalances of the flora fluctuating- increasing in numbers.

Fortunately we have a number of stool panels that can be an incredibly helpful and holistic tool for a patient with irritable bowel syndrome.  It allows the Naturopathic doctor to assess not just O&P and yeast but the inflammation in the large intestine and small intestine, whether you have enzymes to digest your food, the balance of good bacteria in your belly, whether bad bacteria is thriving as well are ruling out more common infections.  This functional medicine approach allow the integrative doctor to put the piece together about the whole digestive system and why you are having irritable bowel syndrome.

Many IBS sufferers are looking for a holistic doctor to learn how to heal irritable bowel syndrome naturally.  Our naturopathic doctors are well versed in helping patients solve their IBS and preventing reoccurrence.  We got this!

We specialize in this kind of thing so it’s not a new idea for us. Getting the right care tailored for you or your child’s specific body and situation is key to success in your health.  At Journey of Health Naturopathic Clinic we are dedicated to finding the right integrative solutions for each patient. We proudly serve the San Diego area, providing some of the best service in Naturopathic medicine. If you wish to further your own journey of health with Naturopathic solutions and Alternative medicine, give us a call at (619) 772-1164.  We offer free 10 minute consults so you can see if we are the right fit for you and you family.  Reach out and learn more about your holistic medicine options today!

 

Filed Under: Allergies, Digestive, Nutrition

Solve That Asthma!

September 17, 2018 by / 1 Comment

Asthma can be such a challenge for kids to live a normal life particularly when it comes to sports involvement or spending the night at friends’ houses that have pets.  Fortunately, there are a lot of natural medicine treatments for asthma.  Food sensitivity testing or testing for food allergies can be very important to identify.  We can’t always control what is in our environment but we can control our diet.  Encountering allergens or things you react to can include both food and environment so the more you get in, the more reactive the airway will be and the less you encounter, the less likely the airway is to react.  As we decrease the aggravations, the child can eliminate asthma and the need to medications which is very exciting for the family.

Any Integrative Health Center is likely to see asthma in their pediatric population and our naturopathic doctors are no different.  Over 25 million people and their families experience the challenges of asthma contributing to a large number of office visits to the doctor and repeat visits to the doctor, both scheduled and unscheduled.  Many have to seek care in urgent cares when treatment is not managing asthma adequately.   We have a lot of hope for parents who are looking for alternative medicine or naturopathic medicine options for their pediatric kids with asthma.  There are a lot of tools in the functional medicine realm that helps create a holistic treatment approach for our patients.

The holistic doctor’s view of treating the whole body tends to be more successful than just treating the airway which may continue to get worse.  This is a functional medicine view of the body as well by working on the immune system response, some thing that is not clearly visible but is working on an unseen level.  The immune system is focused on keeping the body safe but if it is confused on whether food is aggravating, it will continue to try to address the problem.  Taking the food out for a period of time can allow the immune system to regroup, heal up the lining of the intestines along with make the enzymes that digest and break down the food into digestible molecules to distribute through the body.  The largest challenge here is to identify the foods that are causing the aggravation.  Food intolerances are often obscure.  Sometimes they are not easy to identify since it can take 4 days to have a reaction.

As a naturopathic doctor, I have seen many pediatric patients present with chronic asthma that is reoccurring and after treatment, they have a bag of pharmaceuticals that they no longer need that they have gradually been able to wean off.  This is empowering for kids and parents.  The basis of treatment again is identifying the food intolerances and food allergies, decrease the inflammatory burden their body is exposed to and balancing the microbiome.  There are many botanicals that can be used in the meantime to help relax the airways but addressing the cause is what gives the long lasting results.  Don’t underestimate your body’s desire to use natural medicine to heal from asthma.

This is something Dr. Shannyn Fowl is familiar with and has seen in kids and adults alike.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at (619) 772-1164 for a free 10 minute consult to see if we are the right fit for you.  Our Naturopathic Medicine Clinic in San Diego, CA welcomes new patients are interested in finding natural options for their healthcare concerns.

Filed Under: Allergies, Immune System, Pediatric Health
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