Ready, Set, Glow: Transformational Medicine
Jun 30, 2022 08:00AM ● By Suzie Agrillo
Considered an “alternative health care” center, Transformational Medicine (TFM) offers whole-person care through its doctors, bodywork specialists, nursing staff, colon hydrotherapist and nutritionist. Because they work as a team, each patient is given the time and attention they need to be heard and seen.
A naturopathic physician is taught not only how to diagnose, but also how to grow the plants and how to make the plant-based medicines the patient needs. NDs are also able to prescribe medications.
What are the most common health problems you see in your practice?
The most common issues we see are dehydration and malnourishment. People eat far too much junk food for them to get healthy; they become overweight but are malnourished because junk food does not provide what the body needs to survive or thrive. We see a lot of thyroid, Hashimoto’s and endocrine issues. We also do a lot of pain management work using Zach’s myofascial release body work and Dr. Saber’s Prolozone injections.
How can thyroid abnormalities affect individuals?
Thyroid abnormalities impact one’s energy, joint laxity, skin, metabolism, temperature regulation, weight and hair. Dr. Saber has treated over 1,000 people now for low functioning thyroid or hypothyroidism, Hashimoto’s and Graves (both autoimmune disorders) and thyroid cancer.
What foods will boost your health and looks?
Clean foods will boost your health. This means organic, locally grown, seasonally sourced, non-genetically modified, organic, grass-fed meats. Taking out the sugar and junk food can change a person’s life significantly. Hair and nails grow, energy soars and sleep improves. Generic muscle aches and pains go away, joints stop hurting. You would notice improvement within a week when making dietary changes.
Living in a desert, how much water should we be drinking?
Rule of thumb is half your body weight, but in ounces. So, if you weigh 150 pounds, you should drink 75 ounces per day. If you also drink caffeine, or work out, or work outdoors and you sweat, you’ll need to drink more water to stay hydrated.
Why is exercise essential for the body and mind?
Exercise, even walking daily, is a terrific way to keep circulation functioning, keep the heart rate going, keep your joints lubricated, get fresh air and burn off some of the excess fat your body is holding onto. If we don’t move, we get stiff and die. Our bodies are designed to move, and the more movement our species does, the better our overall health. It’s also great to clear the mind and lowers depression and anxiety. We do our best to “walk” this talk, by walking our dogs daily, doing yoga regularly and going to the gym.
What does the gut have to do with a strong immune system?
The gut is the foundation of the house, comprising 70 to 80 percent of our immune system cells. If your gut does not work well, your immune system is compromised. If your healthy gut bacteria are down due to toxins from the food or water you consume, you get dysbiosis, which causes bloating, gas and pain.
What vitamin/mineral deficiencies do you commonly observe in patients?
The most common deficiencies we see are low B vitamins, magnesium and D3.
Can a naturopath help with maintaining brain health?
Yes, an ND can help with brain health, because we do the deep dive into finding out what is causing the brain fog, or clarity issues. We can check a person’s neurotransmitters via a simple urine test. We can see if environmental toxins, mold or heavy metals are impacting the brain and body. We will see if muscle issues are contributing to brain and neck pains. We work with a variety of therapies to assist patients to get clear, focused and healed brains.
Which IV therapies do you use in your practice?
We offer many distinct types of IV therapies, including vitamin C in many dosages, hydrogen peroxide for anti-viral treatments, heavy metal chelation IVs and many more designed specifically for the patient’s needs.
How does biofeedback work and what are its uses?
Biofeedback is a safe, noninvasive, evidence-based method to help people develop greater awareness and ability to regulate their physiology by using signals from their own bodies. By monitoring your body signals, sensors connected to your body provide you with information in real time about its functioning, such as muscle tension, sweating, temperature, respiration and heart rate.
How is myofascial release therapy different from regular massage therapy?
The only thing massage and myofascial release have in common is a massage table and the use of hands/arms. Myofascial release is a focus on the connective tissue in the body. Massage is great for relaxing and destressing. Its design is to move fluids and relax muscles. Myofascial release is a generic statement, but in our business, it is about changing the structure, releasing old patterns and helping the body, mind and soul be comfortable in the body you have.
What surprises patients most about the services you provide?
We get patients scheduled as promptly as possible. We have a beautiful building with ample parking. Brooklyn, Deborah and/or Richard will greet you and welcome you to Transformational Medicine. You’ll feel safe and can relax knowing you’re in good hands. Behind the scenes, we work diligently to keep prices affordable. We work hard to get you answers in a timely manner. Patients always come first. We love what we do, and it shows.
Transformational Medicine is located at 2028 East Prince Road, in Tucson. For a free, 30-minute consultation, call 520-209-1755. For more information, visit tfmnd.com. See ad, page 3.
At Transformational Medicine, the team treats the entire individual, and often, the entire family. For example, should a doctor’s patient have a headache, they’ll ask a bodywork specialist to help, so they can continue without pain. If a doctor is concerned there’s a deeper problem for their patient, they’ll ask one of their teammates to step in. TFM will do what is necessary to assist patients in getting answers, getting test results, getting help and getting pain-free.
Q & A with Transformational Medicine
What is naturopathic medicine and how is it different from Western medicine?A naturopathic physician is taught not only how to diagnose, but also how to grow the plants and how to make the plant-based medicines the patient needs. NDs are also able to prescribe medications.
Naturopaths look at the entire body, not just the immediate ailment, because the body is an entire unit, not compartmentalized. When a naturopath talks about diet, it’s because everything you ingest affects your body. A bad diet results in poor digestion and decreased immunity.
Your immune system starts in your gut, so when you don’t take care of it, you may find yourself with many ailments that western medicine doctors will prescribe medications for. Then, they will prescribe more medications to address the side effects of your original medications. It’s a vicious cycle that naturopaths know how to avoid by addressing the real problems up front.
At Transformational Medicine, the doctors can run multiple tests, and typically run more than western medicine doctors. Because we aren’t restricted by catering to your insurance company, we cater to your needs. Working as a team, you and the physician get to determine which testing, which goals are most important to you and the quality of life you want. Neurological tests can be done, blood tests for allergies and exposures can be conducted, and other tests can be ordered to narrow down the causes of the issues you are having, whether they are mental, physical or emotional.
The most common issues we see are dehydration and malnourishment. People eat far too much junk food for them to get healthy; they become overweight but are malnourished because junk food does not provide what the body needs to survive or thrive. We see a lot of thyroid, Hashimoto’s and endocrine issues. We also do a lot of pain management work using Zach’s myofascial release body work and Dr. Saber’s Prolozone injections.
How can thyroid abnormalities affect individuals?
Thyroid abnormalities impact one’s energy, joint laxity, skin, metabolism, temperature regulation, weight and hair. Dr. Saber has treated over 1,000 people now for low functioning thyroid or hypothyroidism, Hashimoto’s and Graves (both autoimmune disorders) and thyroid cancer.
What foods will boost your health and looks?
Clean foods will boost your health. This means organic, locally grown, seasonally sourced, non-genetically modified, organic, grass-fed meats. Taking out the sugar and junk food can change a person’s life significantly. Hair and nails grow, energy soars and sleep improves. Generic muscle aches and pains go away, joints stop hurting. You would notice improvement within a week when making dietary changes.
Living in a desert, how much water should we be drinking?
Rule of thumb is half your body weight, but in ounces. So, if you weigh 150 pounds, you should drink 75 ounces per day. If you also drink caffeine, or work out, or work outdoors and you sweat, you’ll need to drink more water to stay hydrated.
Why is exercise essential for the body and mind?
Exercise, even walking daily, is a terrific way to keep circulation functioning, keep the heart rate going, keep your joints lubricated, get fresh air and burn off some of the excess fat your body is holding onto. If we don’t move, we get stiff and die. Our bodies are designed to move, and the more movement our species does, the better our overall health. It’s also great to clear the mind and lowers depression and anxiety. We do our best to “walk” this talk, by walking our dogs daily, doing yoga regularly and going to the gym.
What does the gut have to do with a strong immune system?
The gut is the foundation of the house, comprising 70 to 80 percent of our immune system cells. If your gut does not work well, your immune system is compromised. If your healthy gut bacteria are down due to toxins from the food or water you consume, you get dysbiosis, which causes bloating, gas and pain.
This imbalance results in a decreased function of the immune system because the immune cells do not get the nutrition they need to work properly. Adding probiotics helps to rebalance the gut bacteria, while colon hydrotherapy assists in clearing out old waste and sludge.
What vitamin/mineral deficiencies do you commonly observe in patients?
The most common deficiencies we see are low B vitamins, magnesium and D3.
Can a naturopath help with maintaining brain health?
Yes, an ND can help with brain health, because we do the deep dive into finding out what is causing the brain fog, or clarity issues. We can check a person’s neurotransmitters via a simple urine test. We can see if environmental toxins, mold or heavy metals are impacting the brain and body. We will see if muscle issues are contributing to brain and neck pains. We work with a variety of therapies to assist patients to get clear, focused and healed brains.
Which IV therapies do you use in your practice?
We offer many distinct types of IV therapies, including vitamin C in many dosages, hydrogen peroxide for anti-viral treatments, heavy metal chelation IVs and many more designed specifically for the patient’s needs.
How does biofeedback work and what are its uses?
Biofeedback is a safe, noninvasive, evidence-based method to help people develop greater awareness and ability to regulate their physiology by using signals from their own bodies. By monitoring your body signals, sensors connected to your body provide you with information in real time about its functioning, such as muscle tension, sweating, temperature, respiration and heart rate.
We use biofeedback to help retrain your nervous system to be more resilient and produce more helpful responses in the long term, including: healthy stress coping skills; increases in exercise and restful sleep; positive changes in relational dynamics; reduction in anxiety and depression; and decreases in muscle tension, chronic pain, fatigue, brain fog, food
cravings and unhealthy eating habits.How is myofascial release therapy different from regular massage therapy?
The only thing massage and myofascial release have in common is a massage table and the use of hands/arms. Myofascial release is a focus on the connective tissue in the body. Massage is great for relaxing and destressing. Its design is to move fluids and relax muscles. Myofascial release is a generic statement, but in our business, it is about changing the structure, releasing old patterns and helping the body, mind and soul be comfortable in the body you have.
What surprises patients most about the services you provide?
We get patients scheduled as promptly as possible. We have a beautiful building with ample parking. Brooklyn, Deborah and/or Richard will greet you and welcome you to Transformational Medicine. You’ll feel safe and can relax knowing you’re in good hands. Behind the scenes, we work diligently to keep prices affordable. We work hard to get you answers in a timely manner. Patients always come first. We love what we do, and it shows.
Transformational Medicine is located at 2028 East Prince Road, in Tucson. For a free, 30-minute consultation, call 520-209-1755. For more information, visit tfmnd.com. See ad, page 3.
Suzie Agrillo is a freelance writer in Tucson and a frequent contributor to Natural Awakenings Magazine. She focuses on writing about the arts, inspirational people and the human connection. Connect at [email protected].
Transformational Medicine - 2028 East Prince Road, Tucson, AZ
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