As we age, nothing seems to work as well as it used to. Sometime in our late forties or early fifties, we notice more pain, less energy, change in sleep patterns, or our primary care doctor tells us we need to be on a baby aspirin and a pharmaceutical medication for the rest of our lives for our diabetes, hypertension or high cholesterol.  Most of us completely take our health for granted for our first 40 years. A good analogy I like to use with my patients is that they have been withdrawing from their health bank account for years, and are now in the red, and it is time for them to make some big deposits into themselves before there is a health crisis.

One of the first problems of aging starts with the digestion, especially in the United States, where our diets are relatively low in fiber, and high in carbohydrates and saturated fats. As we digest less efficiently, we absorb nutrients less, and don’t have the means to repair tissue damage from toxins in the environment, stress, and unhealthy lifestyle. Our state of mind can deteriorate; we experience stress, anxiety, and depression more powerfully because we have less reserve in our health bank account.

The TRUE Health Plan offered by Bodhi Body is true preventative medicine in that it puts big deposits into your health savings account.  You have unlimited access to a physician who addresses your personal and specific health concerns. Our IV nutrient bags make huge nutritional deposits directly into your body so you don’t have to rely completely on the digestive system. Colonics help heal and regulate the digestion, and Acupuncture and massage address stress and pain directly. Our TRUE Health Plan is completely drug free, and the side effects are more energy, better sleep and state of mind, better digestion and better overall life.  For more information go to www.bodhi-body.com or call 480-237-2410

What is Stress?

Stress, whether it is emotional, physical or situational stress, exacts a response from our body. The normal response to stress is often referred to the “fight or flight” response. Our bodies are beautifully prepared to respond to stressors in an effectual way. Chronic stress, the brain’s response to negatively perceived events or situations for a prolonged period over which an individual feels he has no control.

Effects of Chronic Stress

Long-term exposure to stress can lead to serious health problems. Chronic stress disrupts nearly every system in your body. It can suppress the immune system that may lead to increased frequency of colds.  Chronic stress can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and autoimmune disease. It can cause hormone imbalances that can lead to low libido, infertility, and speed up the aging process. Long-term stress can even increase your experience of anxiety and depression.

Balancing Chronic Stress in Your Life

There are many ways we can support our bodies and minds during times of chronic stress.  Some of the more obvious ways we can do this is by 1) eating fresh, organic food that is at least 50% raw (think salads and raw fruits and veggies) 2) getting at least 8 hours of sleep every night 3) reducing the amount of alcohol intake and 4) enjoying some moderate exercise daily e.g. walking, yoga.  Unfortunately, when we are dealing with long-term stress, these suggestions are the hardest to adhere to.  There are many other additional ways that we can help to alleviate and manage stress in our lives.  Massage therapy is a wonderful way to relax the mind and body while helping to rid the body of toxins that disrupt our immune system.  Nutritional supplements and nutritional IVs restore optimal levels of vitamins and minerals to your body that you may not be obtaining from your diet.  Yoga is a superior method for strengthening the body, relaxing the mind, supporting the immune system and detoxing the body- all at the same time!  Guided meditation and hypnosis can help break down internal barriers to healing.

The Team at Bodhi Body can help design a stress-reduction plan for you.  It involves looking at the stress you are exposed to and how you are supporting your body in its attempt to deal with the stressors. Our facility has been designed with you in mind.  Our comfortable rooms and comprehensive therapies will help melt your stress away.  Some of the most common therapies prescribed for stress reduction are: neuromuscular massage, yoga, nutritional therapy (IV and oral), guided meditation and hypnosis, acupuncture, along with a whole host of complete detox therapies.  Our bodies are amazing, resilient machines and can handle moderate amounts of stress beautifully.  But long-term, chronic stress can do a lot of damage.  Assess your stress levels and help support your body as it supports you.

As  2010 rolls in, many people are interested in detox for the new year.  Many options are available, to decrease the toxicity of the body through stimulation of the liver and digestive tract.  Why are Americans starting to recognize the need for detox?  Thankfully mainstream personalities and celebrities are sharing their detox experiences, and the public is following in their footsteps.  The FDA has also named Mercury amalgam fillings as hazardous waste before they are put in your mouth, and after they are taken out, they must be put into superfund sites for the same reason, but while they are sitting in your mouth, they are completely, they have as yet not released information about any danger.

Think of your body as a bucket, and as toxic chemicals from the environment fill that bucket, they can begin to run over, and cause symptoms and disease.  Toxins in the environment can cause oxidative stress on your body, cells and DNA, which may result in many diseases, including cancer.  Detox helps put a spigot on the bucket, to remove the chemical toxicity, cause less oxidative stress, and help the body avoid disease and lesson symptoms.

Chemicals, like pesticides and heavy metals, get trapped in your fatty tissue, and bones, and cannot be removed by conventional detox methods.  At Bodhi Body we have physicians on staff trained in medical detox methods which include sensitive  blood and urine testing which is followed by specific protocols, including intravenous and oral chelation, which remove heavy metals, solvents and pesticides from your tissues, and help eliminate them from the body.

Far Infrared Sauna, comprehensive supplement therapy, intravenous nutrients and colon hydrotherapy are also offered to help support your body while it mobilizes and releases these toxins.

For more information on our environment, and pollutants’ effects on your health and wellbeing, you may consult the following websites: The Environmental Working Group www.ewg.org,  and The National Institutes of Health http://ehis.niehs.nih.gov.

Dr. Heather Wdowin is the Medical Director for Bodhi Body Integrative Medical Centers in Chandler, AZ www.bodhi-body.com

First, we must look at the cause of the AOM:

If a child has been on multiple antibiotics in the first years of life their immune and gastrointestinal systems can be in a state of great dysfunction.  This can then lead to a predisposition of food sensitivities by allowing larger molecules to pass through the gastrointestinal tract into blood circulation.  Not to mention, the over-all proper absorption of vital nutrients will be drastically diminished.  This process over a short period of time will lead to inflammation throughout the tiny bodies.

Anatomy of the inner ear:

Eustachian tubes in children are much more narrow & horizontal than in adults (see graphic).  This means that even a small amount of inflammation can cause the closure and improper drainage of the inner ear leading to increased pressure, redness, and pain.

Does your child need antibiotics?

According to the American Academy Pediatrics…Not necessarily.

“This study suggests that in cases of ear pain caused by AOM in children in which active treatment, besides a simple 2- to 3-day waiting period, is needed, an herbal extract solution may be beneficial. Concomitant antibiotic treatment is apparently not contributory.”

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/111/5/e574

Treatment is as easy as 1,2,3…

First, administering natural pain management using soothing and antimicrobial botanicals in a solution that is easily absorbed through the tympanic membrane (ear drum). Secondly, increasing immune function by using supplements and hydrotherapy to heal the gut, replace good bacteria (probiotics), increase circulation, and reduce stagnation.  Thirdly, Eliminating food sensitivities and decreasing systemic inflammation by identifing, avoiding, and desensitizing through Natural Elimination of Allergy Therapy.

Dr. Jesika DiCampli practices at Bodhi Body Integrative Medical Centers.  Visit Dr. DiCampli to see if your child could benefit from a Naturopathic medical approach to ear pain and AOM. Call 480-237-2410 or email for more information at info@bodhi-body.com

You may think mammography is the ideal way to screen for breast cancer but guess what? That may not be true.  Most mammograms detect breast cancer only after they have reached stage 2, or 1 million+ cancerous cells.

That’s not exactly DETECTION or PREVENTION is it?

That’s more of a confirmation. Plus you’ve now added harmful radiation to an already possibly grim diagnosis.

That’s why Bodhi Body physicians recommends using Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging (DITI) to complement your breast health plan and cancer prevention strategy.  Digital Thermography is a procedure that uses ultra-sensitive infrared cameras and sophisticated computers to detect, analyze and produce high-resolution diagnostic images of temperature and vascular changes. The procedure is both comfortable and safe using no radiation or compression.

What is Breast Thermography? Breast thermography takes thermal images of the breasts and surrounding areas to aid in the early detection of breast cancer.

The principle: Thermography assesses blood flow patterns, inflammation and function.

How it works: State-of-the-art breast thermography uses ultra-sensitive infrared cameras and sophisticated computers to detect, analyze, and produce high-resolution diagnostic images of these temperature and vascular changes.

Detection: The procedure is both comfortable (no pain!) and safe using no radiation or compression. By carefully examining changes in the temperature and blood vessels of the breasts, signs of possible cancer or pre-cancerous cell growth may be detected years prior to being discovered using any other procedure. This provides for the earliest detection of cancer possible. Because of breast thermography’s extreme sensitivity, these temperature variations and vascular changes may be among the earliest signs of breast cancer and/or a pre-cancerous state of the breast.

Research: Breast thermography has been researched for over 30 years, and over 800 peer-reviewed breast thermography studies exist in the index-medicus. In this database well over 250,000 women have been included as study participants. The numbers of participants in many studies are very large– ranging from 37,000 to 118,000 women. Some of these studies have followed patients up to 12 years. Breast thermography has an average sensitivity and specificity of 90%.

Unique Capability: Just as unique as a fingerprint, each patient has a particular infrared map of their breasts. Breast thermography has the ability to detect a pre-cancerous state of the breast, or signs of cancer at an extremely early stage, and therein lies in its unique capability of monitoring the temperature variations and blood vessel alterations produced by the earliest changes in tissue physiology (function). The procedure is based on the principle that chemical and blood vessel activity in both pre-cancerous tissue and the area surrounding a developing breast cancer is almost always higher than in the normal breast. Since pre-cancerous and cancerous masses are highly metabolic tissues, they need an abundant supply of nutrients (blood flow) to maintain their growth. In order to do this, they increase circulation to their cells by sending out chemicals to keep existing blood vessels open, recruit dormant vessels, and create new ones (neo-angiogenesis). This process results in an increase in regional surface temperatures of the breast.

About Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging

As a non-invasive preventative breast screening, DITI looks for good thermal symmetry in the breasts. Areas of heat in the breast which are not symmetrical and vascular in nature are more likely to develop into breast cancer. Perfect candidates for breast Thermography include women who:

• Are between the ages of 25-40 with concerns and/or a family history
• Women over 40 who have radiation and/or compression concerns
• Have had breast cancer before
• Have implants or mastectomies

DITI can be used in conjunction with other breast diagnostics because it has no side effects (radiation or compression). Note: DITI should not be seen as a replacement for mammography. The two tests complement each other. DITI can be used in addition to mammography as part of a woman’s regular breast health care, for the most comprehensive approach to early breast cancer detection.

Bodhi Body is one of the only integrative medical centers in the Valley to offer DITI. Bodhi Body believes everyone can be empowered to maintain their health and wellness with treatment programs that make use of all appropriate, science-based therapies, both conventional and alternative. Natural, less-invasive approaches to health are given priority.  Bodhi Body creates a customized wellness plan based on each individual’s medical needs.  The staff at Bodhi Body understands that most chronic disease can be prevented simply by taking preventative measures today.

Bodhi Body will be holding a lecture discussing details and benefits of this procedure on Saturday January 16^th at 9 am.   A clinical thermographer, a technician who specializes in the procedure, will be on hand to discuss the benefits of breast thermography; how it works, and how it can detect signs of breast cancer without radiation and years ahead of a traditional mammogram.  This is a free event.  Please call 480-237-2410 or email info@bodhi-body.com for more information.

Dr. Heather Wdowin

Humans are one of only a few animals on earth that do not manufacture or store vitamin C, which is an indication of how important this nutrient is. Studies have shown that animals that do have the ability to produce vitamin C on their own dramatically increase its production during times of injury or stress.

Vitamin C is required for the growth and repair of tissues in all parts of your body. It is necessary to form collagen, an important protein used to make skin, scar tissue, tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels. Vitamin C is essential for the healing of wounds, and for the repair and maintenance of cartilage, bones, and teeth.

Vitamin C is also an anti-oxidant, and protects the body from free radicals, the build up of which, over time, is largely responsible for the aging process and can contribute to the development of various health conditions such as cancer, heart disease, and a host of inflammatory conditions like arthritis.

Some experts say we can only absorb a relatively small amount of vitamin C supplementation orally, so at Bodhi-Body we give this anti-aging, body restoring, immune system supporting, metabolism speeding, anti-oxidant intravenously so higher doses are available to your body to bodhi-fy your life.

Interested in learning even more ways Bodhi can help improve the way you LOOK, FEEL and PERFORM? Contact us at 480.237.2410 for a free 15-minute consultation to get started.

Learn More. Live Better. Love Your Bodhi Body.

What is the Bodhi Body hCG diet?

A physician-supervised 12 week program that consists of a strict diet (only six weeks), supplementation, Far Infra Red Sauna, and small injections of hCG hormone (only six weeks).

Why a 12 week program?

The hCG injections (shots) are given in this biphasic manner over a 12 week period because we have found that people who perform the typical 21 day hCG weight loss protocol have a fairly high tendency to regain the weight back once they stop. By performing 3 weeks on, 6 off, and then 3 weeks on, the body will have an increased ability to keep the weight off because we are furthering the “reprogramming” of the pituitary gland.

What is hCG?

hCG is an acronym that stands for human chorionic gonadotrophin. This is a hormone found in both men and women.

Why hCG?

A deficient diencephalon or pituitary gland is the thought behind the hCG diet. The pituitary gland is known as the master gland in the body and is responsible for many functions including growth, blood pressure, sex organ function, metabolism regulation, and more.

What does the hCG do?

Through the small daily doses of hCG the pituitary gland function is optimized. This regulates the metabolism of the patient and directs the mobilization of fat around the body. Once the fat is being mobilized it can be taken in by the cells and burned for energy. Typically people can comfortably go about their usual occupations on a diet of only 500 calories and lose an average of about one pound per day. The daily administration of hCG appeared to have no side-effects other than beneficial ones.

Why such a limited diet?

The diet is limited because it is designed to remove common food allergens along with keeping people from eating more than 500 calories a day. It is understood that food allergies increase inflammation in a person’s body and can make it difficult to lose weight.

Why the sauna?

The far infrared sauna is a great way to increase the body’s core temperature, assist the body’s metabolism, and support the mitochondrial function to burn fat.

Will I be really tired or hungry during the program?

Many people who partake in the program do not feel hungry and often have more energy during the diet because with the limited intake of calories your body will spend less energy digesting food.

Who should consider it?

Those who have struggled with diets before, are looking to lose over 20 lbs, or are interested in dropping weight quickly yet safely.

Who shouldn’t?

Although a Bodhi physician will determine your ability to begin this program based on your initial consultation there are some who should most definitely not consider this program. Cancer patients, pregnant women, those who want to lose less then 8 pounds, and diabetics are a few of those who fit this category.

What is different about the Bodhi hCG Program?

Our program is all-inclusive, combining the therapies and supplements, which means a comprehensive program to ensure the most superior outcome for our patients. There is no up selling in our program, just results.

Ready to get started?

Before we proceed with this or any protocol an initial consultation with the physician is required. Please contact us today at 480.237.2410 or via email at info@bodhi-body.com for more information on our hCG protocol and to schedule your initial consultation today.

In many cases prolotherapy is a viable alternative to surgery, and it helps to heal injuries and decrease pain. Hines Ward and Polumalu had a treatment called PRP prolotherapy performed to help heal up injuries prior to playing in the Super Bowl last year. In this technique, blood is drawn out of the patient, spun down in a special centrifuge to separate the platelets and growth factors needed for healing, and reinjected into the joint. In essence, it simulates inflammation without causing it, and stimulates the joint to heal.

Think prolotherapy might be right for you? Call us at 480.237.2410 and schedule your consultation to learn more about it with our Sports Medicine specialist, Dr. Heather Wdowin, today.

With the current meteoric rise in yoga’s popularity, the range of class and style options can be confusing. Looking at class schedules can be like trying to learn a whole new language.

Yoga is all about you, so when seeking a class, ask yourself: What do I want from my experience? Are you looking for a workout or a way to relieve stress and find peace of mind? Are you concerned about aging and the loss of flexibility or range of motion? Are you seeking to support a healing process in your body? Do you want to lose weight and gain muscle tone?

Begin your journey by first identifying your immediate needs and goals (these may change over time) and setting your intention clearly in your mind. It might also be helpful to look at your patterns. Like attracts like. Are you allowing the habitual nature of the mind to create your preferences?

For example, if you are living a fast-paced, stressful life, you may instinctively look for a fast-paced, physically demanding style of yoga. But pushing yourself on your yoga mat may be the last thing you need. Ask yourself what will bring balance to your body and into your life.

Getting to know the different styles of yoga is a good starting point in choosing the yoga that’s right for you.

Looking for a vigorous class to burn toxins and impurities? Go for Vinyasa, Power, Core, Bikram, Hot, Ashtanga or Jivamukti.  Something therapeutic to heal? Seek out Viniyoga, Hatha, Iyengar, Integrative, Yin and specifically targeted yoga therapy classes. Want to meditate and relax? Try Sivananda, Integral, Gentle, Kundalini or Kripalu.

Being familiar with these styles is definitely helpful, but keep in mind: Every teacher will instruct the defined style differently, as an expression of their personality and life experience. Yoga is flexible!

Check out our class descriptions here!

Please feel free to contact our Yoga Advisor and Program Director, Kristen Butler, at 480.237.2410 or via email at kristen@bodhi-body.com.

Bisphenol A was first synthesized in 1905 and since the 1930’s there have been health concerns over BPA and animal consumption.  BPA, due to its estrogenic activity in the body, was expected by the pharmaceutical industry to be used as an estrogen replacement medication in humans.  Then when it was tested, it was deemed too deadly and dangerous for human medical usage.  This information didn’t stop capitalism and a new use for BPA was found in the plastic industry.  BPA has become a prominent and very important chemical to the plastic manufacturing process.  The global production of BPA is around 3 million tons annually.  This annual production accumulates in the environment and our bodies causing and promoting disease.

It is interesting that a chemical that was found to be too hazardous for human consumption in the medical field was then added to almost every food container in the USA for everyone to be exposed to.  BPA has been seeping into our food and bodies from plastic wraps, plastic bottles, dental sealants, the inner epoxy coating of cans, etc, providing the population with a chronic low dose exposure.

This chronic exposure has been shown to increase cancer rates in animals and in humans it has been linked to a number of diseases, decreased semen in males, and found to effect chemotherapy.

BPA blocks the ability of chemotherapy to kill breast cancer cells.

A medical research study from early 2009 showed that concentrations of BPA, comparable to those found in the bodies of the general public, decreased chemotherapies effectiveness to kill breast cancer cells.  The ability of BPA to block chemotherapies kill rate has to do with BPA’s high binding affinity to estrogen receptors on the cancer cells.  BPA blocked the effects of the chemotherapy drugs doxorubicin, cisplatin, and vinblastine in the study.

BPA is just one of the 100’s of toxic chemicals that pollute our bodies.  Take the time to become educated on how to protect yourself and your family from unnecessary exposures.

Start today by taking simple steps:

• Don’t put plastic in the microwave
• Use stainless steal, wood, or glass cooking and eating utensils
• Eat organic food when possible
• Take your shoes off in the house
• Don’t buy canned foods

Learn More. Live Better. Love your Bodhi Body.

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