Boulder Holistic Blog Archives

Dr. Terri Fox interviewed on the functional medicine approach to biotoxin illness by Dr. Jill Carnahan!

Written by Terri Fox on January 31, 2021. Posted in Boulder Holistic Blog.

Hello Friends

It was an honor and pleasure to be interviewed by Dr. Jill Carnahan! Dr. Carnahan is a functional medicine doctor, researcher and lecturer. She specializes in biotoxin illness and has a wonderful, informative YouTube channel interviewing experts in the field. Check it out!

In this video, Dr. Jill interviews Dr. Fox about the functional medicine approach to biotoxin illness. Biotoxins are toxins that come from a biological origin. Many chronic conditions like chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, insomnia, neurologic conditions, anxiety and headaches have roots in biotoxin illness. Common biotoxin illnesses include Lyme Disease, Lyme associated co-infections and mold illness as each of these contagions release biotoxins that can make people symptomatic.

Functional medicine looks for the underlying root cause instead of just treating the symptoms. Dr. Fox explores how functional medicine can be applied to mold toxicity and Lyme disease. Watch this video to learn more about Dr. Fox’s personal journey, a look at testing and treatment approaches for mold toxicity and the relationship between Lyme and mold.

Thank you first responders and teachers

We would like to offer our gratitude to first-responders and teachers for their selfless contribution to the care of our beloved friends, family members and children during these extraordinary times.

Our doctors are extending a friends and family discount on new patient appointments and supplements to all first responders and teachers who book through March 2021.

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Mask-acne… it’s a thing

Written by Amy Reidhead on January 18, 2021. Posted in Boulder Holistic Blog.

Masks are now the new hot accessories but wearing a mask for hours a day can block the pores of your skin and put you at risk of developing acne. As healthcare providers, we know the best way to treat acne is to prevent it before it happens.

So, since mask wearing is not likely to go away for a while, it seems important to figure out how to best protect our faces and stop the pimples that masks can cause.

So what causes acne?

Acne and pimples are caused by a number of things including the health of your pores and how much oil and keratin they produce, your hormone balance and the health of your gut. The bacteria that live on our skin can also play a significant part in the development of acne.

Inflammation is also a key player in the development of pimples. Our skin is a direct reflection of the foods you feed it; the more inflammatory foods you eat, the more likely you will have skin issues.

Did you know your skin is a detox organ?

Our bodies have six organs of detox: the lungs, liver, lymph, kidneys, large intestines and the skin. Our skin is our biggest organ of elimination, working with the other organs of detox to remove waste from the blood and the body. When there is congestion in the other organs of detox, the skin tries to pick up the slack by pushing toxins out through our pores. In fact our skin can push out as much as 2 pounds of toxic waste a day through our sweat!

What are some simple things you can do to help prevent acne:

Wash you face mask after wearing using a non-toxic soap or detergent.
Keep your mask dry. Moisture builds up behind the mask making it a total breeding ground for bacteria, so if you talk a lot with a mask on, you may want to change it often during the day.
Wearing masks made of natural fibers can help. Masks made of silk are less likely to cause pimples.
Ditch gluten: Gluten is inflammatory in everyone, so stopping gluten can reduce inflammation in the body, protect the gut and stop more toxins from leaking into the blood stream.
Stop eating dairy. The consumption of cow dairy has long been associated with acne. Cow dairy is NOT a health food, it is full of hormones which may contribute to acne and is very inflammatory in the body.
Kick the sugar and processed food habit. Both sugar and highly processed foods have been shown to make many skin conditions worse, including premature aging.
Drink water!

Natural skin solutions

Wash your face with non-toxic cleansers. I like Tata Harper skin care for clean beauty products and moisturizers for the skin. Their products are organic, clean and smell amazing without added fragrance. For blemish prone skin I recommend using Tata Harper Clarifying Cleanser or Zyderma Gentle Foaming Cleanser that cleans skin without stripping away our skin’s natural barrier.

Gentle exfoliation 1-2 times a week. Exfoliation removes dead skin cells that contribute to blocked pores and lead to more outbreaks. Try to pick products that contain natural enzymes, BHA and salicylic acid.

For those with sensitive skin: I like Tata Harper Clarifying Mask or Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel for sensitive skin. For a stronger exfoliating experience: I like Goop Beauty Goop Glow Microderm Instant Glow exfoliator or Goop Glow 15 % Glycolic acid Overnight Peel

Moisturize you skin. Dry skin as well as oily skin can lead to more acne prone skin. Find a clean moisturizer that matches your skin type.

Support your skin’s microbiome. You can help restore the skins moisture barrier and microbiome with topical products like Biossense Squalene+Probiotic Gel that soothes red skin and may help to balance the skins natural protective flora.

Topical things that can help with blemishes: Look for products that contain niacinamide and zinc as they can help balance oil production and reduce redness. The Ordinary Niacinamide 10%, Zinc 1%

For super dry skin: The Ordinary HA 2% + B5 has hyaluronic acid to help lock in skin’s natural moisture.

To help with Skin repair: The Ordinary Buffet +Copper Peptides may help repair skin and prevent scarring.

I want end by saying that I have no affiliation with any of these products or their makers; they are just products I have used personally and find useful. I also like Beauty Counter and Goop to shop clean body and beauty products. There are others. Shop around and find what works for you and your budget.

Although the products I mentioned in this blog are largely geared toward the ladies (don’t worry guys, you can use clean skincare too!), men can suffer with acne too. No matter who the patient is, the principles of functional medicine apply to anyone suffering from acne.

Always start your detox routine by eliminating inflammatory foods, clean up your household cleaning and beauty products and get the organs of elimination working.

Supplements that support great looking skin include:

High dose probiotics rebalance the gut microbiome: pick ones with 225, 350, or 500 billion CFU
Fish Oils and Evening Primrose Oil are anti-inflammatory and support cell structure and barrier function
Vitamin E fights off free radicals and helps to protect the skin
Vitamin D helps heal tissues
Methylated B vitamins help support detoxification pathways, protecting the skin from hormones that can make acne worse

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5986265/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7146365/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29357214/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20620757/

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Reversing Insulin Resistance

Written by Amy Reidhead on December 8, 2020. Posted in Boulder Holistic Blog.

Insulin resistance is a hot topic in the health and functional medicine world. Our fast passed, high stress and inactive lifestyles put many people at risk for this undesirable condition. Luckily, insulin resistance is not only preventable, but may be reversible by making healthy diet and lifestyle changes now!

What is insulin resistance?

Insulin is a hormone released by your endocrine system that helps shuttle sugar consumed in the diet into your cells to be used as fuel. Insulin is also the main fat storage hormone in the body. It tells fat cells to store all calories as fat and elevated insulin levels also prevent fat from being used as fuel.

Insulin resistance really means insulin excess and it is just one step on the path to developing long-term issues with your metabolism. So when your insulin levels are high, your body goes into fat storage mode… making weight loss nearly impossible.

How did you get here? Standard American Diet, Genetics, and Lifestyle

Many things can contribute to having issues with glucose metabolism and insulin resistance. When someone with the right genetic make up and lifestyle also eats the standard American diet (heavy on processed foods, low in fiber and quality protein, high in bad fats and simple carbohydrates), their body will start to produce more and more insulin in order to try to manage all the sugar that is being consumed with every meal.

Our lifestyle can also contribute to developing insulin resistance. The amount of stress in our lives as well as the coping skills we use for managing our stress (stress eating, and consuming an excess of caffeine and alcohol) can also make insulin resistance worse. Likewise, the amount of exercise (too much or too little) and types of exercise can similarly impact the insulin resistance and glucose metabolism.

How do I know if this is a problem for me?

Signs that you may have impaired glucose metabolism may include fatigue, feeling hungry all the time, having issues with sleep (poor sleep quality or feeling tired all the time), difficulty losing weight or yo-yo diet weight loss, and the presence of stubborn belly fat no matter how well you eat and exercise.

A functional medicine doctor can order routine lab work that may show evidence of this process years before you would actually get the diagnosis of diabetes from a traditional doctor.

Some of these labs include measuring leptin hormone, insulin levels, hemoglobin A1c and blood glucose levels in your blood. Elevations in any of these markers can indicate that you have impaired glucose metabolism and could be on your way to developing a metabolic syndrome like diabetes.

How do I fix this?

None of this happened overnight, and it won’t change overnight either. No one wants to hear this, but coming back from insulin resistance and impaired glucose metabolism takes time. Insulin resistance develops over years and years and is actually your body’s intelligent way of adapting to eating too much sugar from a carbohydrate heavy diet for a lifetime. In fact, by the time your blood work shows insulin resistance, this processes has been happening for at least 10-20 years!

If you want to work on reversing insulin resistance, it requires a dedication to eating a whole foods diet and modifying your lifestyle and exercise behaviors—for life.

Exercise. In order to change your metabolism, you have to exercise. The best exercise for changing metabolism is brisk walking 30+ minutes at least 5 out of 7 days.
Stress control. Cortisol is our stress hormone, and elevated cortisol levels also contribute to greater fat storage, especially abdominal fat. You can read about cortisol here. Read about how mindfulness, meditation, tapping and breath work can all help to rewire our stress response here.
Low carb and high fat diet. A whole foods diet that eliminates processed foods and simple carbs and sugar and includes healthy fats is recommended for reversing insulin resistance. Check out the Mito-Food plan from IFM.
Ketosis. Ketosis simply means that your body has adapted to burning fat for fuel rather than glucose. The Mito-Keto food plan can help you figure out what to eat to start exploring ketosis.
Fasting. Intermittent or prolonged fasting. Fasting is an advanced way to profoundly change your metabolism. Fasting can be explored under medical supervision, as long as you have made all the above changes to your diet and lifestyle.

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7441661/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4129661/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5411330/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6170977/

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The Latest COVID-19 Updates from Boulder Holistic

Written by Terri Fox and Amy Reidhead on November 21, 2020. Posted in Boulder Holistic Blog.

On Friday November 20th 2020, Boulder and Denver counties entered the “new red” COVID restriction levels. So what does that mean for us at Boulder Holistic?

Due to the current risk of COVID-19 infection, we are trying to do our part in slowing the spread of the coronavirus by limiting the number of face-to-face appointments per state order. We are booking appointments with our doctors via telemedicine through zoom or over the phone over the next few weeks in order to best comply with the new restrictions.

We are allowing in-person visits for those patients who want or need to be seen in-person for medical reasons. Please discuss your concerns with the front desk when booking your appointment.

Our goal is to continue to provide the best care possible to all our patients during these uncertain times. More than ever, it is important to stay connected with your doctor in order to maintain optimum immune health, sleep, nutrition and stay as healthy as possible. We are all in this together!

Wishing you all a happy and healthy holiday,

Dr. Fox and Dr. Reidhead

What to do if you have been exposed to someone who tested positive for the coronavirus?

We recommend the following for patients who have been in close contact/exposed to a person who has tested positive for COVID-19. According to the CDC, close contact is defined as being within 6 feet of the infected person for longer than 15 minutes.

1. The CDC, Colorado.gov and Boulder County websites recommend that all people who have had exposure to a known positive COVID-19 infected person quarantine for a full 14 days. We are finding that it may take up to 14 days for enough of the virus to grow in the body to know whether you will become symptomatic.

2. You should quarantine, even if you do not have symptoms. During your 14-day quarantine, you are to monitor for the development of signs and symptoms of coronavirus infection.

These symptoms include fever, shortness of breath, chills, loss of smell/taste, fatigue, headache and gastrointestinal symptoms like diarrhea or nausea.
If mild to moderate symptoms develop, please contact your doctor and we can help you to get tested for COVID-19 and assist you with supporting your body during initial infection phase.
If severe symptoms develop, like difficulty breathing, blue lips or skin, or changes in mental status, please call ahead to the emergency room and let them know you or your loved one has been exposed to the virus and is experiencing severe symptoms and needs to be seen immediately.

3. People may wish to be tested for COVID-19 during their quarantine, even if they do not develop symptoms. In this case, it is recommended that you wait a full 5-7 days after being exposed to the coronavirus before you get tested so that we get accurate results. Testing too early may lead to a false negative result.

There is a list of testing facilities on Boulder County’s website. https://www.bouldercounty.org/families/disease/covid-19/testing/

For a list of Denver county testing sites, please visit:

https://www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/covid-19/recovery-guidance/testing.html

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Using Your Supplements Wisely: How to Best Protect and Heal from COVID-19

Written by Amy Reidhead on November 3, 2020. Posted in Boulder Holistic Blog.

As fall turns to winter, the number of coronavirus cases in our state and the country continues to grow. Thankfully, over the past months doctors and researchers have learned more about the virus and how to best approach prevention and treatment.

Functional medicine thrives when it comes to understanding root causes of illness and how to support proper immune function. The research has shown that a step-wise approach to the coronavirus may be the best medicine.

First step: Prevention

Basic prevention measures should focus first on maintaining a healthy lifestyle by consuming a nutritious diet, getting regular exercise; reducing stress and getting adequate sleep. And of course, don’t forget to keep your distance, wear a mask and wash your hands!

Supplementing during the prevention stage includes the basics:

Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Probiotics
Zinc
Melatonin
N-Acetyl Cysteine

Using herbs and supplements to boost the immune system is also nice at this stage. Herbs make good choices because one herb can have many different actions in the body. The following herbs can support all three phases of illness.

Helpful herbs may include: Andrographis, Licorice, Berberine, Dan Shen, Scutalaria/Chinese skullcap and Japanese knotweed
Allicin, from garlic, can also help support immune function
Olive leaf helps against viruses
Mega IgG and SBI Protect
Quercitin

Next step: What to do if you get sick!

Ok, so here is what to do if you happen to get sick. Quarantine and rest are important at this stage as they limit the spread of the virus and allow your body to focus its energy on killing the virus.

During the initial 7 days of infection, we also recommend that you keep taking all your basic prevention supplements. Just at higher dosing or frequency. If you were taking your prevention supplements once a day, maybe increase to twice or three times daily dosing. It’s important to also increase the amount of vitamin C you are taking if possible: every couple of hours until “bowel tolerance”. Infections consume a LOT of antioxidants, so replacing them helps your body keep fighting.

It is also recommended during this initial illness stage that you increase your attention on antiviral strategies. If you were taking herbs once or twice day, you can increase to 3 times daily dosing at this phase.

The same herbs apply here: Andrographis, Scutillaria/Chinese Skullcap, licorice, Berberine, Goldenseal and Japanese Knotweed.
Echinacea and Reshi mushrooms are also great at this stage.

Step three: Late stage Infection Support

If by 7 days you have not recovered from COVID, it is important to change strategies and be watchful of worsening of symptoms or your condition.

Late infection with COVID-19 requires a different approach. During this time, we encourage people to switch focus from an immune support plan and begin to support a more anti-inflammatory approach.

Fish oils
Resveratrol
Sulforaphane
Curcumin
Glutathione
High Dose Melatonin

Many of these nutrients are important during this phase as they address escalating inflammation and demand for antioxidant support so critical at this stage.

Be alert for and seek emergency help if you or a loved one begins to experience symptoms of worsening illness like difficulty breathing, blue lips or face and changes in consciousness.

At Boulder Holistic, we have made an antiviral tincture that can be used to help support your body at every step.

Our Antiviral Tincture combines 4 herbs that have both antiviral and anti-inflammatory actions and can be used in all stages to support your immune system.

Glycyrrhizin/licorice
Dan Shen
Scutilaria/Chinese Scullcap
Japanese Knotweed

Dosing instructions:

In prevention stage, we recommend taking 2 droppers full daily
During active and late infection, our tincture can be taken 2-3 droppers full every few hours or 8 droppers full 3 times daily diluted in a little water.