Diet is a key component in the intervention arsenal of conventionally trained primary care practitioners, but few understand how nutrition influences health and sickness. Even fewer healthcare providers are aware of the latest nutritional techniques.
Nutritional therapy harnesses specific foods to help prevent and treat disease. Let’s talk about how holistic medicine utilizes food to promote optimum health, and where you can go in Mankato and the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area for world-class holistic and integrative medicine.
How Can Certain Foods Help Me Prevent or Mitigate Disease?
Nutritional therapy is always personalized to the individual, rather than being a one-size-fits-all approach. Your medical practitioner will consider your medical history, health goals, and food preferences. After all, what works for one person may not be appropriate for another.
The following chronic health conditions can be greatly helped through medical nutrition therapy:
Diabetes
Diabetes is a disease in which your blood sugar can rise to dangerously high levels. Diabetes can cause nerve damage, eyesight loss, stroke, kidney disease, heart disease, and more, because the high blood glucose can interfere with proper circulation – which can lead to cellular damage.
Medical nutrition therapy has been shown to greatly help in managing diabetes. Your nutrition counselor will explain how you can help to keep your blood sugar under control by avoiding certain foods and emphasizing other foods in your diet.
Cancer
Cancer occurs when cells begin to multiply uncontrollably. It can affect any area of your body.
Many patients with cancer struggle to eat enough and are therefore in danger of malnutrition. Your nutritional therapist may recommend high-calorie nutritional shakes or other fat- and protein-rich foods that taste good while providing the necessary nutrition. The therapist may also propose IV supplementation to ensure you’re getting enough beneficial vitamins and minerals.
Heart Disease
Heart disease encompasses a variety of disorders that impair heart function, including irregular heartbeat and coronary artery disease. It can cause a heart attack, stroke, aneurysm, and even death, which is why treatment for heart disease is imperative.
Medical nutrition therapy can reduce your risk factors for heart disease, such as LDL (bad) cholesterol, high triglycerides, and high blood pressure. Your nutritionist may advise you to eat a low-fat, low-cholesterol, low-sodium, low-inflammatory-foods diet, while emphasizing lean meats, nuts, vegetables, and grains.
Kidney Disease
Kidney disease can lead to excessive calcium and potassium levels in the blood, low iron levels, poor bone health, and kidney disease (renal failure). Most people with renal failure will need to change their diet in order to get these nutrients back into proper balance, and your nutrition therapist can help by recommending the right foods and supplements to help you stay as healthy as possible.
Some people with kidney failure will need to limit their protein, potassium, phosphorus, and salt intake, while others may need to adhere to hydration limitations (in order to control fluid retention). Treating high blood pressure is often central to medical nutrition therapy for someone with kidney issues.
Nutrition Therapy in Mankato, MN and Clinton, SC
To achieve optimum health and tackle disease, have an evaluation by a medical nutrition therapist. Here at Between the Bridges Healing Center in Mankato, we foster complete health by providing IV therapy and injection therapy to get your nutrition levels back to where they should be, so you can feel great.
To learn more, contact Between the Bridges Healing Center today by calling us at (507) 388-7488. Alternatively, you can fill out our simple online appointment request form. We look forward to being your partner in total wellness!
