Functional Lab Testing is it a Key for Tic Disorders?

I am sure you are wondering how do I stop tics? Are their natural treatments for tic disorders? The internet says magnesium and B6 work for tics, but they didn't help! What gives? 

Most diagnoses of ADHD, ADD, ASD, SPD, OCD, Anxiety, Tics, and Tourette's are diagnosed using behavioral modalities. These diagnostic criteria are no more objective than a teacher's observation. 

When we only look from the outside, we are missing a big piece of the puzzle. 

When your check engine light comes on, do you ignore it? No, most of us take our car to the mechanic.

How mad would you be if the mechanic took a walk around your car, watched it for 20 minutes, and said it's okay to go home?

I don't know about you, but I would be furious! How come he didn't take it back and hook it up to all his diagnostic machines? 

How come when it comes to our health, this seems to be an acceptable approach? 

Most of my clients have...

Do you have a little one that struggles with mood, weight, behavior, ADHD, anxiety, SPD, OCD, or even sleep? If so it’s time to kick the breakfast cereal and muffins to the curb. 

Yes, protein is essential for building muscle, but protein breakdown is vital for every function in your body.

Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Generally, the broader the spectrum of amino acids a protein source contains, the more nutritious it will be for you

Amino Acids are the key to mood

Protein is broken down into amino acids that are used to create your neurotransmitters. Serotonin, Dopamine, GABA, and Norepinephrine are the four major neurotransmitters that impact mood and concentration. Without the proper breakdown of amino acids, your mood can suffer.

Remember: protein is your body's primary source of growth.

Yes, protein can help support muscle growth, but it is so much more than that! Good protein content can also help you achieve a stronger bone structure,...

Thought it was a pimple BUT it wouldn’t heal.

My dad died from melanoma, and every year on his birthday, I share information about skin cancer. However, this year is unique because it was the year I got skin cancer. After all the years I spent preaching about the sun and sun safety, I ended up with basal cell carcinoma. Although basal cell cancers do not easily spread and if you have to have skin cancer, it seems to be the one to have…so “they” say.

My mom also has basal cell carcinoma; yes, I am genetically predisposed to skin cancer. However, genetics loads the gun, and the environment pulls the trigger. Even though the sun plays a big part in skin cancer, your lifestyle also matters. How you treat your genes will have the most significant influence on if you get cancer or not.

When I was a kid, sunscreen was SPF 8, and one rarely used it. Plus, I had a friend who got a gorgeous golden-brown tan every summer, and I always looked pastie. I was hell-bent on...

Conquering Anxiety!

I cannot tell you how many people I know who say they suffer from anxiety and depression. I see everyone on Facebook posts every day about how they can’t even function because their anxiety is so bad. For most people, anxiety depression, and panic seem to snowball and it gets worse and worse every day.  So many people think that anxiety is just part of their life and that is how they are going to have to live.  Let me be the first to tell you that you don’t have to live this way. Your issues are a symptom of a much caused by something much deeper and it’s a matter for finding the root cause.

I have lived a life of anxiety, I have conquered it, and you can too!

 Mental health, inflammation, and mood foods

Mental health issues have a huge impact on society. Some suggest that their impact is larger than any other chronic disease, including heart disease or diabetes. 

There are so many factors involved in complex conditions like...

WHAT ARE TICS?

I get it…you are tired, frustrated, and confused! You have this diagnosis but no idea what it really means for you or your child. You have searched the internet and tried magnesium and B6. You have looked for natural treatments for tics, how to make tics stop, facial twitches, facial tics, eye blinking, or even natural remedies for tics but you still feel like you are shooting in the dark

Many of you may have heard me talk about tics and what we struggled with but what are tics? 

Tics are brief, sudden movements or sounds. They may happen at random times and many times each day. A tic is hard to stop, but you are awake and aware during a tic. Tics do not cause you to lose consciousness and usually do not happen in your sleep. 

Tourette's are both vocal and motor tics that last for more than one year.

Many people will tell you that their child's tics come and go (wax and wane). That was true for us but what we didn't realize that there were...

Here kids take a puff of this cigarette!

WHAT?

You are probably thinking “this lady has lost her mind!”

We wouldn’t offer our kids a smoke but we are doing just as much damage by letting them sit in front of the screen all day long.

Sitting is the new smoking was first coined by James A. Levine, MD, Ph.D. and he showed that the impact of sitting was just as bad for your health as smoking.

Online school means more time in front of screens. It’s necessary for learning but not so great for our kids’ metabolism. Most of our kids are missing out on team sports and outdoor activities which only contributes to their lack of exercise.

It seems that everyone is spending more time on their butt than ever before!

For reference—here are the latest obesity statistics for children from the CDC:

14% of US preschool children are obese

18% of US elementary-aged children are obese

20% of US teenagers are obese 

Here’s the thing. Obesity is...

TIC DISORDER: CONNECTING MY CHILD'S DOTS

Looking back, my son's tic symptoms started long before he had a tic. When I look back from the second he was born. I can begin to put it all together and see why we ended up where we did. The day he was born, he had low blood sugar, and the very first thing that the nurses did was give him sugar water instead of bringing him to me for breastmilk. The best way to prevent low blood sugar in babies is to provide them with breast milk. He was born C-section, which means he missed all of the essential microorganisms in the birth canal, but the very first thing he was exposed to was sugar. Sugar is inflammatory, it has no nutritional value, and it causes inflammation. Breast Milk is full of antibodies and high levels of secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) to protect your baby's gut, plus it helps to kill off viruses and bacteria. We off to a great start!

He was jaundiced from birth, and we had to have bilirubin lights brought into our home so...

Screen time is toxic! It’s not just the toxicants in and around our homes but electromagnetic fields (EMF) exposure can be toxic too. We have also seen an increase in screen time usage in kids and the ADDICTION IS REAL!

Screen addiction is becoming more and more serious and is not something to be taken lightly. Screen addiction is very real and can make you anxious or cause you to lose focus on things that are so much more important than that Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp update that you checked five seconds ago.

OR the endless XBOX video games and YouTube videos that your kids are watching.  

Screen addiction can harm your mental health, personal health, and social relationships, even potentially causing you to fall prey to depression or anxiety.

Not only that increased screen time may be related to increased symptoms of ADHD, tics, and Tourette’s.

If you are reading this blog, you may have already experienced some anxiety or bad days due to your screen...

Glyphosate was found guilty by a California jury for causing cancer in a school groundskeeper, who was repeatedly exposed to it in his line of work.

Glyphosate is the primary ingredient found in a pesticide known as Roundup, made by Monsanto, and it’s the most heavily used pesticide in the U.S.

The good news is…

This verdict was a big win in relation to raising awareness around how pesticides, herbicides and other toxic chemicals deemed to be “safe” are actually harmful to our health.

The bad news is…

Every year more than 250 million pounds of Roundup are used on conventionally grown U.S. crops and in other places around the world.  As a result, Glyphosate has been found in all levels of the food chain including water, plants, animals, and even in humans.

It has even been found in some organic foods due to water runoff and cross-contamination.

As a chemical, Glyphosate has been classified as a carcinogen, meaning it causes cancer, and as an...