There is an intimate connection between emotional well being and physical health. Satisfaction about the way you look and how your body and mind feel lends itself to a sense of well being. How you are able to respond to your daily life is partly determined by your physical capabilities to give you more when more is needed, to stay motivated through the daily challenges and to rise above the stressors at hand.

In a Nutritionist’s office, we consider true health a balance of a number of factors that can lead to an optimal sense of well being. The primary factors considered are exercise, optimal sleep patterns, positive mental attitude, proper hydration, and a balanced nervous system and a healthy diet. If all of these factors are in balance, the true innate intelligence of the body is given the opportunity to return you to a fantastic sense of well being. When there is an imbalance of any one or a combination of these components of health, your body will communicate with you through an intricate number of symptoms.

The important part about listening to your body when it talks to you is how you respond. For example: Depression is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. One way of responding to your body when it is telling you that there is a low mood is to take prescription medication to change your mood. Strange though, did you know that exercise was proven to be twice as effective for mood control as Prozac or Wellbutrin? Maybe you just have an exercise deficiency. Similar results are noted when proper essential fatty acid balance is achieved. Have you been taking your fish oil?

In the office of a Nutritionist, most symptoms are a sign of an imbalance in the biochemistry of the body. The change in biochemistry can come from psychological stressors, environmental stressors, social triggers, results of the effects of medications, mineral deficiencies, toxic metal syndromes, lack of proper sleep / wake cycle, chronic pain patterns, slow thyroid function, functional hormone changes and so on…

In working with a Nutritionist you will hear the word “functional” quite a bit. What we are referring to is that not all problems show up in your blood work, and there may be a more subtle change in your system that is not bad enough to raise the red flags for your medical doctor.

It is good news that your doctor can’t find anything wrong with your blood work. That means there is no pathology or major illness. That brings you to trying to identify the subtle changes in your body. This is the specialty of a Clinical Nutritionist, correcting small changes in physiology that cause a shift in your sense of well being.

Health care is not really about diagnosing and treating disease, that is sickness care. True health care is a diagnostic approach to achieving balance in an unbalanced body.