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:

A Note from Dr. Stram

As the new year begins, we often reflect and reminisce on our year and begin to make plans for the future. Reflecting upon this year at the Stram Center, our team expanded to the community of Burlington, Vermont. We welcomed Kathryn Boulter, Naturopathic Physician based in Vermont, Heather Haslun, Family Nurse Practitioner in New York, and Tara Madison, Nurse Manager in New York. With our expanding interdisciplinary team, we have evolved our treatment protocols to support more patients in need, attended wellness conferences to learn cutting-edge treatment modalities, and added three new hyperbaric oxygen therapy machines across both of our offices. To the communities, patients, and family that I have had the privilege to work with this year, I thank you. It is with great pride that as we enter 2023, the Stram Center for Integrative Medicine will be celebrating our 20th year of operation in Delmar, New York. This integrative medicine journey that I began in 2000 would not have been possible without the continued dedication of my team, community, and patients that have supported our vision of functional medicine since our inception. I look forward to another year of healing, and wish everyone health, happiness, and strength for this new year. 

The Benefits of Individualized Nutrition

While humans are alike in many ways, we are also unique, especially when it comes to our behaviors, beliefs, genetic makeup, likes and dislikes. Our nutritional needs are just as unique to each of us because nutrition is much more than calories, vitamins and minerals. Our individual nutrition depends on many of factors, including our beliefs, behaviors, habits, cooking abilities, access to healthy foods, financial means, likes/dislikes, upbringing, and exposure in a safe and supportive childhood home to different foods. In an individualized nutrition counseling session, all of these factors are taken into account, creating space that you can thrive in.

The Complexity of Mold

A combination of a passion for environmental medicine and an uptick in mold-related illness at the Stram Center prompted me to seek further medical training on the latest advances in treating mold-related conditions; a continuing medical education course taught by a Naturopathic Doctor specializing in mold sickness, Dr. Jill Crista. This blog is intended to bring attention to this chronic, often misdiagnosed, complex condition that is the root cause of a lot of “mystery” symptoms and syndromes - think chronic fatigue syndrome, mast cell activation syndrome, mitochondrial dysfunction, dysautonomia, chronic sinusitis, interstitial cystitis, nephritis, tinnitus, neuropathy, immunodeficiency, cognitive impairment, unspecified gastrointestinal symptoms, food sensitivity, among many others.

Hyperbarics and Fibromyalgia

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been shown to be useful for wound healing and non-healing injuries, but more recently, it has also been utilized for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and symptoms related to post-concussion. HBOT has also been studied for inflammatory and autoimmune conditions including rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis. But what about chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia? It is not quite known what causes fibromyalgia, but possible causes include chronic infections, neurotransmitter imbalances, and emotional or physical trauma.

Healing Your Mind

In this new year, let us make our mental health a priority. In a world full of distractions, I invite you to focus in on yourself and your needs, starting with therapy. For those living with a chronic illness, when you are treating your physical body, your mental health is impacted. Mental health is physical health. You owe it to yourself to enter a safe space to fully process the pain you are going through; the pain that is not always visible to the eye.

Burlington Vermont Nutritional Counseling for Gut Health

There are about 40 trillion bacteria in your  body, most of which are found in your gut- they are known as your gut microbiome, and they're incredibly important for overall health. Improving your microbiome and bacteria quality can transform your life and reduce many different symptoms you may be having. And as many people know who struggle with poor GI health, ica be life altering.  This is why at the Stram Center, we utilize tastings that help us get to the root cause of a health condition, and we start with the status of your microbiome in our nutritional counseling (read more about our nutritional counseling services here)... The following three powerful components are the first step to beginning your gut health journey.

Stram Center Naturopathic Medicine comes to Burlington Vermont

Naturopathic medicine is a distinct system of primary health care, distinguished by the healing principles upon which its practice is based. Unlike most naturopathic practices, the Stram Center is a unique collaboration of naturopathic doctors and medical doctors working together, investigating root cause so that we can provide the best most accurate treatment for our patients. Our team approach is so valuable and we are excited to bring this care to the Burlington community, helping to nurture longer, healthier happier lives to our community. Read more about Dr. Kathryn Boulter, Dr. Jacquelyn  Burrell, Dr. Korey DiRoma, and our founder, Dr. Ronald Stram.

"More brains are better than one," as Dr. Stram  likes to state, when describing the style in which we approach complex patients. Read more about Naturopathic Medicine here.

Burlington Vermont Stram Center Story

We are so excited to bring our own unique brand of integrative and naturopathic medicine to Burlington. Vermont is a unique place which is what we love about it! We appreciate Vermont for its commitment to local resources and the creativity of its residents. We look forward to partnering with the community and other local health care providers to bring the best health care possible to our patients. We have a passion for combining the best of western and naturopathic medicine, we practice a truly integrative model.

We offer free 15 minute consultations with Drs. Boulter and Burrell; Call to schedule!  802.891-3459

Don’t Get Ticked Off, Be Tick Smart

With the warm weather we are all starting to spend more time outside and venturing on to grassy playing fields and into the woods. We are not the only ones who emerge from hibernation with the warming temperatures, ticks also come out to play. We need to be aware of how to prevent tick bites and what to do if we get one!