10 FUNCTIONAL TESTS OFFERED BY DR. FISEL

April 4, 2022 by

Are you experiencing health symptoms that have left you feeling less than stellar?

You have tried everything you can think of to address your symptoms:

  • Practiced an over-the-counter medication or supplement regimen
  • Consulted with and obtained an allopathic doctor’s perspective
  • Made lifestyle adjustments related to nutrition, movement, sleep and stress management habits

After all of this, are you still struggling with your symptoms despite the fact that your tests have come back “normal”?

One important aspect of naturopathic medicine is the principle of “doctor as educator.” It is the cornerstone of naturopathic care. Naturopathic physicians teach their patients how to make conscious lifestyle choices, giving them the confidence they need to reach and maintain an optimal state of health.

As such, I want to help you get to the root of your symptoms. Following are ten additional lab tests – you might not have known about or considered – that we often utilize at our office. These tests can help you get a more complete picture of your health and also help you discern how your habits and symptoms are contributing to your overall wellness.

10 FUNCTIONAL TESTS OFFERED BY DR. MATTHEW FISEL ND:

  1. Cardiovascular – Testing done to screen for independent cardiovascular risk factors, such as hs-CRP, fibrinogen, and Lipoprotein(a). This test can give you a much more detailed assessment of your heart disease risk than just measuring cholesterol levels.
  2. Hormone – Detailed female hormone testing, including the DUTCH test, for women who are struggling with hormonal issues, and want more options than just a prescription for oral contraceptives.
  3. Glandular – Comprehensive adrenal and thyroid hormone testing, especially helpful for when you’re taking prescription thyroid medication, but still feel symptomatic.
  4. Environmental Toxicity – Heavy Metal testing, which can help to detect lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, and other metals that have been linked to various neurological and autoimmune diseases.
  5. Environmental Allergens – Mycotoxin testing, to identify mold toxicity that doesn’t otherwise show up with typical allergy testing.
  6. Gut Microbiome – Comprehensive stool testing, like the GI Map or GI Effects Profile, which look at a number of factors that can have a negative impact on your digestive health, including parasites, bacterial infections, candida, and inflammatory markers, as well as looking at your healthy microbiome.
  7. Digestion – SIBO breath testing, particularly helpful for patients who have been diagnosed with IBS, or are experiencing persistent bloating that doesn’t seem to resolve with any treatments.
  8. Nutrition – Food sensitivity testing, which can help to identify foods that may be contributing to both digestive and system wide symptoms. 
  9. Metabolic – Genetic SNPs, such as MTHFR and COMT, which can identify predispositions to metabolic problems that may make you more prone to depression, anxiety, fatigue, and a number of other symptoms.
  10. Comprehensive Nutritional Testing – helps to help identify optimal levels of vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, and amino acids. Most conventional testing is only looking to identify blatant deficiencies, but doesn’t take optimal ranges into account. 

Navigating the information available to you in terms of your health and wellness can be a daunting task. I work to support your wellness by utilizing all perspectives. If after exploring your health options, you are left with the feeling – THERE MUST BE SOMETHING MORE I CAN DO –let’s talk about the different tests I offer in my office and determine a course of action you might not have already considered.

If you live in the Guilford/ Branford/ New Haven/ Madison/ Clinton area and would like to learn more about integrative solutions for your health care needs, I can help you get to the root of your symptoms by promoting health and healing on all levels – physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Call (203) 453-0122 or CLICK HERE to schedule a consultation.

Filed Under: Allergies, Diet and Nutrition, Digestive Health, Environmental, Heart Disease, IBS, Metabolic Syndrome Tagged With: , , , ,

Gut Health: Six Things to Do About Gut Health

January 3, 2022 by

Starting off the new year right can be tricky.

There are millions of messages in our everyday lives that tell us we have to look or act a certain way to be acceptable.

What we need are ways to be intentional about our health without becoming obsessed by unattainable weight loss goals.

One of the most important systems in our body is the gut microbiome that regulates the functionality of both our heart and brain.

To maintain optimal wellness (not just a focus on weight)

we must ensure the overall health of our gut.

Here are six things you can do to intentionally change your life by changing your gut:

  1. Think about your food. A diet based mostly on plants is optimal for your overall health. If at all possible, opt for food that is whole (with no added fat, sugar or sodium). Chew your food slowly and completely to aid in digestion. Consider fermented foods (probiotics) and fibrous foods (prebiotics).
  1. Listen to your body’s signals. Consider that food cravings are sometimes caused by an imbalance within your gut microbiome. Other signals like brain fog, stomach aches, fluctuations in weight, sleeplessness, a change in bathroom habits and acute inflammation can also be indicators of an imbalance.
  1. Consider your sleep schedule. Getting an adequate night’s sleep is an essential way for your gut microbiome to restore itself naturally. It is suggested that adults get at least 7-9 hours of sleep each night.
  1. Choose to drink more water. Water aids gut health naturally. It’s a simple and efficient way to repair your gut lining and the good bacteria in your intestines.
  1. Pay attention to your poop. Notice whether there are fluctuations in the way your body eliminates waste. Notice whether your stools are loose or hard. Track how often you eliminate and consider whether that is regular for your body or not.
  1. Get tested. As you become more aware of how your gut is interacting with other parts of your body, you might have questions. I can help you assess the health of your gut and how it might be impacting your life. Together we can look at food sensitivities, supplements and beneficial ways to nourish your gut microbiome. Schedule time with me here.

Whether you set goals or intentions for the new year, make it a priority to focus on the health of your gut microbiome. It could literally change your life.

If you live in the Guilford/ Branford/ New Haven/ Madison/ Clinton area and would like to learn more about the innovative programs Dr. Fisel has to offer, call (203) 453-0122 or CLICK HERE to schedule a consultation.

Filed Under: Diet and Nutrition, Digestive Health, Health and Wellness, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , , , ,

Dairy Officially Deemed Unhealthy

January 5, 2012 by

Dairy, Nutrition, Diet, Digestive Health, Organic Food, Food Intolerance

The Harvard School of Public Health sent a strong message to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and nutrition experts everywhere with the recent release of its “Healthy Eating Plate” food guide.  The university was responding to the USDA’s new MyPlate guide for healthy eating, which replaced the outdated and misguided food pyramid.

Harvard’s nutrition experts did not pull punches, declaring that the university’s food guide was based on sound nutrition research. The greatest evidence of its research focus is the absence of dairy products from the “Healthy Eating Plate” based on Harvard’s assessment that “…high intake can increase the risk of prostate cancer and possibly ovarian cancer.”  The Harvard experts also referred to the high levels of saturated fat in most dairy products and suggested that collards, bok choy, fortified soy milk, and baked beans are safer choices than dairy for obtaining calcium, as are high quality supplements.

In my practice, I try to emphasize to people how “duped” we’ve been by the dairy industry, and that dairy products aren’t indeed the most nutritious source of calcium, as we’ve been brainwashed to believe in our society. Of course, this report doesn’t mean that you should avoid dairy entirely, especially when you can acquire local or non-commercial organic sources. Mainly, the take-away message here is that both past and present food recommendations from the government have emphasized dairy as a requirement, and this is clearly not the case!

Filed Under: Diet and Nutrition, Food Allergies Tagged With: , , , , ,

Vitamins and Death? Not So Fast . . .

October 25, 2011 by
A lot of hype and negative press has been surrounding the recent study that demonstrated the supposed risks of taking supplements.  This is a reprint of an editorial written by Alan Gaby, M.D. that exposes the faults of this study, and why it should be taken with a grain of salt!
An observational study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that women using multivitamins or certain other common vitamin and mineral supplements had higher mortality risk over 22 years. However, while it achieved widespread media coverage, it did not provide any convincing evidence that nutritional supplements are harmful. Researchers calculated the mortality rates were by manipulating the data, and nothing in the study contradicts decades of controlled research showing healthful benefits of these vitamins and minerals.

What the study said

In this study, 38,772 women from Iowa, whose average age was 62 years, filled out questionnaires three times over an 18-year period regarding dietary supplement use.

After a total of 22 years, researchers followed up and report that the risk of dying from any cause appeared to be 6% higher among women who took a multivitamin supplement than among women who did not take a multivitamin. Additional supplemention with vitamin B6, folic acid, iron, magnesium, zinc, and copper was also said to be associated with increased mortality rates.

Two factors should be taken into consideration while interpreting these results, the method used for calculating the results and the type of study.

Interpreting mortality risk methodology

The media coverage did not note a potentially serious problem with this study: that researchers looked at “adjusted” mortality rates rather than actual mortality rates in the population of women who took supplements, adjusting for a wide range of factors including caloric intake, cigarette smoking, body mass index, blood pressure, educational level, diabetes, use of hormone-replacement therapy, physical activity, and intake of fruits and vegetables.

Studying health events to find patterns in a population (epidemiology) is a relatively inexact science, and it is quite possible that the assumptions upon which the researchers based their adjustments were not entirely correct. When they adjusted the data only for age and caloric intake, there was no statistically significant difference in mortality rate between supplement users and nonusers.

Observation only tells part of the story

The study was observational, meaning that while it might show a relationship between certain supplements and mortality, it does not provide evidence that one causes the other.

In observational studies, scientists correlate various lifestyle factors with health outcomes. Such studies help researchers develop hypotheses that can be investigated further, but the only type of study that can prove cause and effect is a randomized controlled trial, in which participants are randomly assigned to receive either a particular treatment or a placebo (an inert dummy pill) without knowing whether they are getting the treatment or not.

In the history of medical research, results of observational studies have sometimes eventually been contradicted by randomized controlled trials. In a famous example, numerous observational studies suggested that the use of hormone-replacement therapy by postmenopausal women prevents heart disease, but subsequent randomized controlled trials demonstrated that hormone-replacement therapy either has no effect or actually increases the risk of heart disease.

Should women stop taking supplements?

The new study does not negate previous research demonstrating that vitamins and minerals can have a wide range of health benefits. However, as with all substances that can affect your health, talk to your doctor about which dietary supplements are right for you.

(Arch Intern Med 2011;171:1625–33)

Filed Under: Diet and Nutrition Tagged With: ,

Is Eating Healthy Really More Expensive?

September 27, 2011 by

Time and again, I hear from patients that it’s too expensive to buy “healthy” food on a regular basis. It’s often this misconception that prevents them from following a healthy diet long-term, ultimately obstructing their ability to heal, or remain healthy. Some recent research has pretty much refuted the notion that eating healthy is more expensive than eating food that’s not so good for you-In fact, quite the contrary!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/is-junk-food-really-cheaper.html?scp=5&sq=cheap%20food&st=cse

Filed Under: Diet and Nutrition Tagged With: ,

High Fructose Corn Syrup Tries To Hide Behind Name Change

September 15, 2010 by
In an attempt to try and fool the public, the Corn Refiner’s Association has applied with the FDA to change the name of high fructose corn syrup to “corn sugar”. This would imply that high fructose corn syrup is a “natural” product, when in reality it is a highly synthetic product. The move may have partly been prompted by a recent Princeton University study demonstrating that rats who consumed high fructose corn syrup “gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.”
For more information, visit the following website:

http://www.takepart.com/news/2010/09/14/high-fructose-corn-syrup-up-for-a-new-name?fb_js_fbu=757915220

Filed Under: Diet and Nutrition, Type II Diabetes, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , , , , ,

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