Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes
Weight loss: it's as simple as eating less and exercising more, right?
No. It really isn't. If losing weight takes forever but you gain weight seemingly overnight, you might actually have health problems that are thwarting your efforts.
Angie Ehrenzweig is a good example of how necessary it is to overcome health problems first. Yes, she lost 100 lbs in one year — but the weight came off very slowly at first. When she showed up at Health Utah, she was struggling with fibromyalgia, extreme fatigue, insulin resistance, depression, systemic inflammation and metabolic syndrome.
After work, she had so little energy left that she would go home and sit in her recliner the rest of the evening. She could no longer go on hikes with her friends or spend quality time with her husband and children.
Her first appointment and scan
At her first appointment, Dr. Whit Roberts, D.C. of Health Utah ran a specialized scan on her body. The scan is a non-invasive functional state assessment of the body which provides an immediate overview of the patient's physiology, stress, fatigue, risk factors, and more.
Roberts was immediately able to see many physiological challenges Angie was dealing with. Reporting her impressions of the scan Angie said, "I was blown away. I couldn't believe how much information I got and how much I learned about my health. I doubt I would have learned more with 20 blood tests and an MRI."
Prior to every appointment at Health Utah, patients fill out a proprietary questionnaire that can identify additional health problems that contribute to stubborn weight. The questionnaire is the result of Roberts' 28 years of experience and research. There is almost always a perfect correlation between the results of the scan and the questionnaire.
Roberts uses both of these to guide him through a 40-minute consultation and evaluation. Why so long? Roberts says, "The art of reviewing someone's health history is almost completely lost to medicine these days. If a test or image can't show a problem, doctors often ignore the patient's symptoms. This is really too bad. A wealth of information can be derived from listening to the patient. It simply takes a while to hear and see everything the patient has to share."
Armed with all the information he needed, Roberts prescribed a protocol of health care and weight loss for Angie. Fortunately, most of the time, his protocols can address everything he identifies in the scan, the questionnaire and the consultation. This was the case with Angie.
By the time she had finished her care, she no longer suffered with the debilitating pain from fibromyalgia or struggled with crippling exhaustion. Her depression was gone. The inflammation all over her body and swelling in her legs were gone.
These were signs that the more serious health concerns of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome were resolved. Without resolving health issues first, such as insulin resistance, weight loss is very difficult. This is why Angie lost relatively little weight in the beginning of her program.
What is the program?
How Roberts and his team at Health Utah addressed all of Angie's conditions is beyond the scope of this article. However, Roberts explained some of the protocols that can be employed for one of her conditions, that of insulin resistance.
"With insulin resistance, receptors on the outside of every cell literally change shape and no longer allow insulin to attach. This is a problem since glucose, which fuels the cell, can only enter the cell if insulin attaches," Roberts says.
With insulin resistance, the sugar that is supposed to enter the cells, instead stays in the bloodstream where it causes damage. In an effort to prevent this damage, the body takes the excess sugar and stores it as fat.
"This is why you gain weight and have a hard time losing weight with insulin resistance. It's also why you have to resolve it before you spend thousands of dollars and hours of effort to lose weight," Roberts continues.
There are many different causes of insulin resistance such as smoking and other lifestyle choices, poor diet, stress, toxins and metabolic disorders. As such there are many ways to address it. To address toxins, for example, Roberts and his team use herbs that upregulate phase one and phase two detoxification of the liver.
Supplements are also often used to keep blood sugars and insulin levels from spiking in response to food and/or stress. For certain metabolic disorders, increasing the production of the enzyme AMP can help. AMP kinase, for example, can help to resensitize insulin receptors to insulin. "We do this through the use of infrared red light and heat therapy. Since the inflammatory responses of the body can increase the production and release of stress chemicals, the use of inflammation-lowering herbs can mitigate stress," Roberts says. This is also done by identifying and removing foods that are inflammatory from the diet. Roberts also recommends occasional fasting. If you can go longer periods of time with low levels of sugar and insulin in your blood, your receptors tend to become more receptive to insulin.
First steps
Roberts and his staff set aside over an hour for testing, evaluation and consultation. To discourage reserving a time and then not showing up, a small fee of $59 is collected prior to the appointment. Your first step then is to either call (801) 609-3478 or visit Health Utah today to schedule your testing, evaluation and consultation.
Special offer
In any health or weight loss journey, it is essential to have the help of family and friends. In a British study, researchers found that both men and women had almost twice as much success losing weight when they did it with a partner. So Health Utah is offering this, their most popular weight loss package, for $59 for two people. You and a friend can get tested, receive a 17-page report, take the proprietary survey and get a consultation with Dr. Roberts. The scan alone is normally $300 for one person.
Call (801) 609-3478 or visit Health Utah today to schedule your appointment.
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