Nutrition

Several of our practitioners are trained to provide nutritional counseling to support your health. Nutrition counseling may be combined with acupuncture, psychotherapy, homeopathy and massage as part of a full-spectrum approach to good health.

Most chronic diseases, as well as some acute ones, respond well to dietary changes. Getting guidance from a trained practitionerabout helpful food choices can improve immunity, reduce inflammation in the body, address malnourishment, and change the course of disease. Mood disorders and behavioral problems often respond well to nutritional changes. Our care providers canalso help you determine what foods you may be allergic or sensitive to if this is a factor in poor health. Many women in particular feel they need to heal their relationship with food. In such cases, one-on-one counseling is useful to look at the root cause of eating disorders, body image problems, food addictions and more.

Santa Cruz Center for Traditional Medicine has several options based on your individual needs. We have one-on-one sessions,group counseling and consultation as well as an evening education series (using Metagenics’ First Line Therapy materials).

Nutrition counseling can also be added to an already scheduled session, so please inquire.

The FirstLine Therapy Program

Nutrition and Lifestyle: Two Powerful Ingredients for Chronic Disease Management

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), chronic diseases are the leading causes of death and disability in the U.S.

These illnesses are responsible for 7 of every 10 deaths, affect the quality of life of 90 million Americans, and consume 78% of all health care expenditures.

Because a wide variety of these conditions are caused by unhealthy lifestyle habits, national clinical guidelines for their management advocate a multifaceted lifestyle approach designated “therapeutic lifestyle changes” or “TLC.”

FirstLine Therapy (FLT) is a comprehensive TLC program that will provide you with the knowledge youneed to make healthy lifestyle choices each day going forward. Helping you adopt a therapeutic lifestyle is the first and arguably the most important therapy you can use to treat many chronic health problems.

Lifestyle-Related Chronic Health Problems are:

    * Elevated Cholesterol

    * Elevated Blood Pressure

    * Cardiovascular Disease

    * Overweight/Obesity

    * Type 2 Diabetes

    * Insulin Resistance or Metabolic Syndrome

    * Osteoporosis

    * Osteoarthritis

    * Conditions Related to Aging

To read more about the First Line Therapy program, click here.