WELCOME TO NOURICHE WELLNESS & AESTHETICS

BY COURTNEY MARCEL, LPN

Diabetes refers to a group of diseases that affect how your body uses blood glucose. Glucose is the body’s main energy source for the cells that make up muscles and tissues. Diabetes means there is too much glucose in the blood. There are several different types of diabetes:

Type I diabetes is when your immune system attacks and kills insulin producing cells in the pancreas. Sugar begins to build up in your blood stream because there is little to no insulin. Insulin helps with the transport of glucose into the cells, so without it- it stays in the blood stream. Insulin therapy for this type is vital.

Type II diabetes is when your cells become resistant to the action of insulin and the pancreas isn’t able to produce enough insulin to overcome it. Risk factors include: obesity, inactivity, family history, race and age. Some people with Type II can control it with oral medication only and some have to aid it with use of insulin.

Prediabetes is when your blood sugar levels are elevated- but not enough to be considered diabetes. Eating right and exercise can prevent the need for medication and or the conversion to Type II diabetes.

Gestational diabetes only happens during pregnancy. Risk factors are age, family or personal history, weight and race. Most women will deliver healthy babies but complications can include: excess growth, low blood sugar, jaundice, respiratory distress syndrome, type II diabetes later in life and or death. Treatment would be controlling blood sugar by diet and exercise. In some cases insulin may be needed.

Some symptoms of diabetes are unusual thirst or excessive hunger, blurred vision, weight loss, excessive urination, slow healing times, extreme fatigue or numbness and tingling in hands or feet.

Lifestyle changes to manage any type of diabetes includes learning about the disease, taking care of your teeth, paying attention to feet, scheduling yearly eye exams, and  keeping blood pressure and cholesterol under  control.

If left untreated complications of diabetes include: seizure, coma, cardiovascular disease, nerve damage, kidney damage, eye damage, foot damage, skin and mouth conditions, and bone and joint problems.

Glycated hemoglobin tests the average sugar for the past 2-3 months. Random blood sugar test and fasting blood sugar tests are also helpful in the diagnosis. Testing for gestational diabetes includes a glucose challenge test between 24-28 weeks of pregnancy or sooner if you are at high risk.

Prevention of this is also fairly easy: maintain a healthy diet, get more physical activity in, and lose excess pounds. Also keep yearly exams scheduled with your doctor so you can catch a problem before it’s too late!

by Angie Boutte

1. Retinoids stimulate exfoliation of dull-looking epidermal cells by accelerating skin cell turnover time from the standard 30-35 days to 5-6 days.

2. Retinoids repair DNA damage gradually in the epidermal cells as well as repair the dermal collagen and small blood vessels. The repair process effectively tightens skin, diminishes wrinkles, lightens discoloration and repairs sun damage.

3. Retinoids actually shrink oil glands, resulting in redued pore size, diminished appearance of scars and tightened skin.

4. Retinoids build an infrastructure by providing new collagen and a thicker, plumper epidermis.

5. As a result of all these combined effects, retinoids make skin look younger and have a rosy glow.

Angie Boutte is a native of Lafayette and the Medical Aesthetician at Nouriche. She has worked in the medical field for 19 years and has spent the last 8 years as a skincare specialist.

Many of you have heard of the medications for osteoporosis from television commercials, magazine advertisements and from friends or family members who take them but what is osteoporosis?  Many of us think about frail old ladies when referring to osteoporosis but this “picture” is not always the case.  We recently had a woman in our clinic under the age of 30 that we found had osteoporosis and started on a treatment program.

by Nadia Elsayed, Nurse Practitioner at Nouriche

Osteoporosis is defined as a bone density that is more than 2.5 standard deviations from normal bone mineral density according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Normal bone density is within one standard deviation of young adult peak bone mass (usually around age 30) Bone Mineral Density is measured by a dual energy x-ray absorptiometry scan (DEXA) and can predict future risk of osteoporosis.

Over the past decade, osteoporosis has been on the rise as a result of more sedentary lifestyles and poor overall diet combined with genetic factors and hormone imbalances have led to the diagnosis of osteoporosis in women as young as 40 years of age.  A balanced diet along with regular exercise that involves weight bearing exercises will go a long way to the prevention and at least delay onset of osteoporosis as we age.  Ask your healthcare provider when you should have a DEXA scan and start now on the path to healthy and happy bones!

In our ever-expanding understanding of human health, we have come to the realization that our health is never as simple as it may seem. There is an interconnectedness between the different biological systems in the body. Our understanding of these relationships requires a systems approach to health- whereby the impact of each human biological system is evaluated in relationship to each other, not in isolation.

The consumption of refined sugar is a glowing example of how one imbalance can trigger major disturbances in the body and lead to disease.

In 1967, Dr. Martin classified refined sugar as a poison because it has been depleted of its life forces, vitamins and minerals. “What is left consists of pure, refined carbohydrates. The body cannot utilize this refined starch and carbohydrate unless the depleted proteins,vitamins and minerals are present.”

Nature supplies these elements in each plant in quantities sufficient to metabolize the carbohydrate in that particular plant. There is no excess in our bodies that make us unique in our ability to handle simple sugars. Refined sugar is “empty” calories because it lacks the natural minerals which are present in the sugar beet or cane.

Eating refined sugar drains and leaches the body of precious vitamins and minerals through the demand its digestion, detoxification and elimination makes upon one’s entire system. So essential is the balance to our bodies that we have many ways to provide against the sudden shock of a heavy intake of sugar. Minerals such as sodium (from salt), potassium and magnesium (from vegetables), and calcium (from the bones) are mobilized and used in chemical transmutation; neutral acids are produced which attempt to return the acid-alkaline balance factor of the blood to a more normal state.

Sugar taken every day produces a continuously overacid condition, and more and more minerals are required from deep in the body in the attempt to rectify the imbalance. Finally, in order to protect the blood, so much calcium is taken from the bones and teeth that decay and general weakening begin. Excess sugar eventually affects every organ in the body. Initially, it is stored in the liver in the form of glucose (glycogen). Since the liver’s capacity is limited, a daily intake of refined sugar (above the required amount of natural sugar) soon makes the liver expand like a balloon. When the liver is filled to its maximum capacity, the excess glycogen is returned to the blood in the form of fatty acids. These are taken to every part of the body and stored in the most inactive areas: the belly, the buttocks, the breasts and the thighs.

Excessive sugar has a strong mal-effect on the functioning of the brain. The key to orderly brain function is glutamic acid, a vital compound found in many vegetables. The B vitamins play a major role in dividing glutamic acid into antagonistic-complementary compounds which produce a “proceed” or “control” response in the brain. B vitamins are also manufactured by symbiotic bacteria which live in our intestines. When refined sugar is taken daily, these bacteria wither and die, yeast flourishes and our stock of B vitamins gets very low.

Many people are standing on the cliff of prediabetes overlooking subtle symptoms.

Signs you may have diabetes or prediabetes:

• Increased/frequent urination
• Excessive intake of water or food
• Weight loss despite decreased appetite
• Nausea and/or vomiting or abdominal discomfort after eating
• Weakness or excessive fatigue
• Absence of menstruation in women or impotence in men
• Blurred or poor vision
• Poor wound healing or increased susceptibility to infection

Any person 30% overweight for 30 years is likely to become a diabetic. Today’s generation will live shorter lives than their parents due to the large rise in diabetes. This disease  is not only preventable but  it is reversible in most cases with attention to lifestyle and diet especially the eradication of simple sugar.

. credit:global healing center

Bloating, constipation, diarrhea, and heartburn are all very disturbing symptoms that would ruin anybody’s plans for a night out on the town. .. maybe it all started with anxiety about the event which led to some poor food choices, a few extra cocktails, eating hurriedly, lack of sleep and so forth.

Don’t get me wrong…if you have fever, nausea, vomiting  and abdominal  pain–consider a trip to the ER ASAP to rule out obstruction, appendicitis, or other serious malady  . Otherwise, perhaps it’s time to take at look at one’s dietary habits. There are in fact foods that enhance gut function and others that impair it. Some foods can promote healing of the intestinal mucosa and others can set it on fire.

70% of our immune system is in our gut and when the gut is undefended, our bodies feel  it. Increased permeability has been observed in several disorders  and may be an effect and a mediator of disease

Restoring the integrity of the digestive ecosystem can have profound improvements on GI complaints as well as fatigue, myalgias, headache, skin disorders and more.

First, one should start an elimination diet for 1-2 weeks to assess the effect on digestive function.  “Remove what harms and provide what heals”

Start digestive enzymes, probiotics and a trial of betaine  on the elimination diet, probiotics after 7 days.

Attempt to identify the source of dysfunction—yeast overgrowth, small bowel bacterial overgrowth, parasites, hormonal imbalance, food allergies, Hpylori, etc

After a month on the elimination diet, start the repair phase by adding essential fatty acids,healing nutrients, and stress reduction.

Hopefully by incorporating these recommendations for digestive health, your social events will be worry free and fun to enjoy.

Osteoporosis is the most common type of metabolic bone disease which is characterized by reductions in both bone mineral and bone matrix. Therefore, the bone is of normal composition but decreased amount. Osteoporosis is not painful unless it results in a fracture. ..usually a fracture of the wrist, vertebrae, ribs, hip, pelvis or arm which can occur with such minimal activity as sneezing or bending over to make the bed. Bone density peaks in the late 20s and begins to decline in the 3rd to 5th decade in both sexes. There are many factors which could contribute to accelerated bone loss such as:

• Advancing age
• Previous fracture
• Glucocorticoid therapy
• Parental history of hip fracture
• Low body weight
• Current cigarette smoking
• Excessive alcohol consumption
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Hypogonadism or premature menopause
• Malabsorption, chronic liver disease, inflammatory bowel disease

Many studies have demonstrated that low bone density at any site can predict osteoporotic fracture, although hip measurements are superior to spine in predicting hip as well as overall osteoporotic fracture.
Bone density is crucial to one’s good health and longevity. Test for your baseline @age 50 unless you have one of the risk factors noted above (then earlier testing may be necessary.)
If you have a normal baseline measurement. Should you be retested?

• In the presence of risk factors that may cause ongoing bone loss (eg, glucocorticoid use, hyperparathyroidism), we perform follow-up measurements approximately every one to two years, as long as the risk factor persists. We perform follow-up measurements approximately every two years in high-risk women during the first five years of menopause, when bone resorption is most prominent.
• In women with no risk factors for accelerated bone loss we will typically perform a follow-up DXA in three to five years

Dr. Kelly Cobb is a board certified internal medicine physician and a partner at Nouriche.