Q. I take fiber (Konsyl) everyday after breakfast with my vitamins and mom just called me about Metamucil and the bottle says not to take it 1-2 hours before or after meals. What is the reasoning behind this? Does it make the meds less effective? – Lisa

OUR RESPONSE:

Fiber can bind, that is some of its purpose. For mom I would do first thing in the morning and just before bed and then some time in between, so that not every dose is with food. As for making meds less effective, if you have been taking things a certain way and the med is working whatever way we need it to do, then the amount taken has been adjusted around how she has been taking it. As an example if something says take on an empty stomach and the person has been taking with food and their tests show fine, then I do not necessarily change the person to empty stomach since we will most likely get a very different effect if they take on an empty stomach.

Posted in Ask The Experts, G.I. Issues on February 21, 2012 by

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Q. I am a 30 year old female who has been suffering from hair loss for the past 5-6 months. I have been to multiple doctors who have told me that it’s nothing more than telogen effluvian. I have lost a significant amount of hair and I question whether the diagnosis is correct. Is there anything that I can take to help?

OUR RESPONSE:
Hair issues can come from a number of different directions, but the first approach always is the same. The hair follicle requires a few necessary things to grow properly. First a high potency B-complex, look for a something that has B-6 over 30mg, this can be done once to twice daily. Now you need Biotin at about 5000mcg (5mg) daily. Next you need to add in essential fats. Omega 3’s, fish oil or flaxseed. On the fish oil I recommend that you work up to a nice high EPA to DHA ratio. So look to an EPA>1000mg and DHA>750mg. Now it is important to make sure that protein is solid in your diet, the hair also needs protein. Healthy proteins are necessary for a lot of tissue health in the body so if you have any digestive issues that may change how you breakdown protein then we may need to look at that. What I want to see is that hair lose stops or dramatically slows, then see the hair start to regrow. Other places to look at for the hair is thyroid and kidney health. You may be passing most medical tests as far as these systems go, but it does not mean they may be feeling some fatigue. So I have my clients track basal body temp and pH of urine. We can work further into these concepts if you need, otherwise we would love to see you attend our Ultimate Nutrition to learn about this further. The class is free and we offer it once a month. Check our website for dates and times.

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Q. What is your opinion of limbrel 500? – Deb

OUR RESPONSE:
From what I could find this is a flavanoid product. Flavanoids can be of benefit as anti-oxidants, antihistamines, and anti-inflammatories. Flavanoids have great research in tinnitus which is ringing in the ears. Foods high in flavanoids range from berries to black beans to dill and parsley. So are these product good, yes they are great. I recommend a product with mixed types of flavanoids and I carry a product from Davinci Labs called Flavanoid 1000.

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Q. I am going to have a gastric bypass in may or June & they said I would loose some hair at the beginning & I should check on what I needed to do to help from looseing to much & keep hair growing. What do you recommend? -Cheryl

OUR RESPONSE:
Hopefully they have talked to you in great detail about food choices that you will need to follow, since this can be a part of this lose. Protein is essential for hair follicle health, so gastric bypass really effects how you digest and break down protein, so you will need to look at a protein powder and use this on a daily basis to maintain protein status. With this protein, the follicle will need biotin, b-vitamins (you will need to do B-12 separately as an under the tongue lozenge, since your B-12 breakdown will be changed) and omega 3’s (preferably fish oil, since digestion of fats is also compromised with gastric bypass so flaxseed breakdown will be difficult). I recommend Biotin Forte from Integrative Therapeutics, since this is Biotin and B vitamins together and it is a high potency. A B-12 of at least 1000mcg daily dissolved under the tongue, not only is this important for the body, but great for metabolism. A fish oil with Vitamin D would also be great and I would recommend a fish oil with an EPA>1200mg and a DHA>900mg. The vitamin D will be helpful to the thyroid and since this system can show hair lose if compromised the D will help here. I am a big believer in strong, health organs of elimination, kidney, liver, gastro-intestinal tract, and when one is compromised the other two will have to take on more work. Another place where hair health is seen is in the kidneys, so if the above options do not do all we need them to do, then we will need to look further. Good Luck.

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Q. Do you have anything natural to help with ADD? – Audrey

OUR RESPONSE:
There are so many options for ADD issues. We need to always look at the basics. First Omega 3’s and a solid Multi high in B’s as well as a diet that is high in healthy proteins (these are needed for neurotransmitter health). During the winter the basics include things like Vitamin D. If we balance the basics and we are still having issues then we can help relieve this with products like L-Theanine and/or 5-HTP. L-Theanine is great to slow a racing brain without sedating. I recommend this in people who get stuck trying to solve the world’s problems in the middle of the night as well as when the brain is jumping from one thing to another so fast that a single task cannot get finished. 5-HTP gives the body a needed serotonin boost, and with Serotonin being your feel good neurotransmitter, improving this can give you a much needed sense of wellbeing. Since diet plays such a part in this issue I would highly recommend that you attend some of our cooking classes and even starting with our ultimate nutrition you could stand to learn a lot about food, variety and changes that may benefit this issue. Everything that I have suggested currently we can apply to either kids or adults we just need to adjust dosing, so let us know if we can work with you further on this.

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