Weight Loss

How do we Approach Weight Loss?

For many individuals, feeling the best is feeling comfortable in their own skin. Most adults struggle with obesity and being overweight and for many this is one of the biggest barriers to feeling well. Our approach to weight loss at the Stram Center is one that goes against the diet industry. 

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Supporting your Immune System: What Should You Eat?

For patients battling Lyme disease and tick-borne illnesses, nutrition plays a critical role in recovery. Food can serve so many purposes; from enjoyment and pleasure to tissue healing and reducing inflammation.  Besides avoiding major inflammatory ingredients (such as processed foods, inflammatory oils, alcohol, added sugar, and artificial sweeteners), it is important to specifically support the immune system, as that is the critical component to overall healing. For immune wellness, here are some key components:

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Optimal Thyroid Health: A Focus on a Gluten-Free Diet

It’s estimated that 20 million Americans have some sort of thyroid disease, meaning an issue with their thyroid gland that causes it to either under or over-produce thyroid hormones. These hormones are responsible for regulating the body’s metabolism and without proper diagnosis and treatment, thyroid disease can lead to further complications of the heart, fertility, bone health, and weight gain or weight loss. Women are 5-8 times more likely than men to have thyroid problems.

Hyperthyroidism is when the thyroid gland overproduces hormones and as a result, the metabolism increases beyond what is healthy. Individuals with hyperthyroidism often struggle to keep weight on, despite eating adequate or increased food intake. 

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What to Know About Thyroid Hormone Replacement Therapies

The most common medication use to treat hypothyroidism is levothyroxine, which is a synthetic thyroxine (T4) that was developed in 1927. This medication must be converted to active T3 for it to alleviate the symptoms of hypothyroidism. There are many factors that can negatively influence the conversion of T4 to T3 including stress, trauma, infections, liver or kidney dysfunction, toxins, and certain medications. Minerals such as zinc and selenium are cofactors in the conversion of T4 to active T3. If these minerals are deficient, then inadequate conversion of T4 to T3 would lead to lower T3 levels. 

Often considered a more natural option for thyroid hormone replacement is...

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Blood Sugar, Estrogen, and Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is directly connected to hormonal imbalance. When we talk about the complex world of hormones, we understand that many aspects influence them, such as stress, the food we eat, how we move our bodies (or lack of movement), and genetics. With breast cancer specifically, estrogen is a key player. So how does nutrition influence our estrogen?

By now you may or may not have heart of “estrogen dominance,” a condition where estrogen levels are either above normal levels or progesterone is too low. The typical estrogen dominant picture usually includes symptoms such as...

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The Fountain (or Food) of Youth

Nutrition is not to be underestimated when it comes to anti-aging. Food alone has the power to keep us feeling and looking vibrant or to actually do the opposite (though please don’t take this to be a scare-tactic). If we look at the multiple opportunities daily that we have to invest in our future self, well now that’s something most of us can get behind. Most of us can find some motivation there, too. Let’s talk about some key foods and key nutrients.

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