GUIDE TO RELIEVE THE
5 MOST COMMON SYMPTOMS
Your Place For Answers
1085 Park Avenue, Suite 1E, New York, New York 10128
(646) 661-7447 - www.DrStevenG.com - [email protected]
SYMPTOM
Fatigue
Understanding Your Fatigue
Dr. G’s Relief Recommendations
FUEL
Fatigue implies lack of energy production.
Like any machine, the human body needs
a power or fuel source in order to produce
energy. That fuel is glucose (blood sugar
from food or storage) and oxygen (breathing
and Iron metabolism from diet). When
considering fatigue understanding all of the
ways oxygen, iron and glucose are made
available to our cells must be understood by
your doctor.
PROPER NOURISHMENT
• Eat within the first hour of waking up,
with foods that consist of high-quality fat,
protein, and/or vegetables.
• Fruits are best consumed in the afternoon
and avoided in the morning and evening
• 75% of fruit and vegetable intake for the
day should be vegetable and 25% fruit
• Complex carbohydrates should be
consumed in the evening
• If your bed time is 10PM, last calories
should be consumed by 7:30
• Vegetable and nut and seed snacks
between meals. Avoid hunger by grazing
throughout the day.
ACTIVATION
Fuel allows our cells to work and do their
job. Activation refers to the ability to tell
and initiate our cells to work. It’s like an
automobile that has a working engine and
a full tank of gas. By itself it does nothing
but turning the key to engage the starter
tells the car it has to now get to work.
Activation requires a working nervous system
(communication and electrical system) and
hormonal system. Hormones in the body
regulate our blood sugar availability (cortisol,
insulin) as well as hormones that actually
act as a starter for the cell to function as is
the case with one of the forms of thyroid
hormone called Free T3.
QUALITY SLEEP
• Getting a solid night’s sleep is pivotal to
not feeling physical or mental fatigue.
• Read more about healthy sleep habits on
page 5.
“When considering
fatigue understanding all
of the ways oxygen, iron
and glucose are made
available to our cells must
be understood”
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SYMPTOM
Brain Fog & Anxiety
Understanding Your Brain Fog
Dr. G’s Relief Recommendations
NEURO-DEGENERATION
Brain fog is a symptom that is all too
common. It can lead to depression, anxiety,
lack of focus and concentration. Technically
this is a form of neuro-degeneration. In its
most severe form, term neuro-degeneration
is most commonly associated with diseases
like Parkinson’s, dementia and Alzheimer’s.
In its mildest form it can be perceived as
“brain fog”.
PROPER TESTING
• A comprehensive wellness panel will give
valuable information about state of blood
sugar control, iron metabolism, B-vitamin
physiology, “extended” thyroid panel.
Nearly all medical doctors merely check
for what they can help and therefore
do not bother to check for functional
thyroid problems that do not qualify for
medication.
IMMUNE ACTIVITY
Brain fog is most commonly caused by the
excessive presence of immune activity in the
brain. Immune activity in the brain is not
well tolerated and can result in excessive
damage. Immune activity is closely tied to
what is happening in the gut (gastrointestinal
system). Inflammatory processes that are
chronic result in a 2 way immune system
communication process between the gut and
brain, what I call the “Brain Belly Connection”.
There is a more extensive nerve network in
the stomach and small intestines than there is
in the brain. It makes sense that we evolved
or were created in a way that gave the brain
the strongest connection with those systems
that brain depends on for its own survival.
RULE OUT SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION
• Fasting for a minimum of 24 hours and
maximum of 3 days is a test that helps
identify systemic inflammation related to
immune elevation at the level of the gut.
I recommend that this be done under
supervision as there are several ways to
do this. Choosing the right method can
be the difference between a pleasant or a
negative experience.
PUMP IT UP
• Talk to your Functional Medicine provider
about your personal exercise goals.
• I recommend finding a routine you like
and preferably work out in the morning.
DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, & BRAIN FOG
These are very similar processes, which
explains why drugs that work on specific
brain systems are prescribed for each.
“Inflammatory processes
that are chronic result in
a 2 way immune system
communication process
between the gut and brain,
what I call the “Brain Belly
Connection”
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SYMPTOM
Headaches
Understanding Your Headaches
POSTURE
It is believed that 80% of headaches are
associated with muscles and nerves that
surround the head and neck. This is epidemic
because of the posture we assume at our
computers. Our head rests too far forward
on our spine creating abnormal muscle tone
and stress on our nerves that exit the spine
and go to our head. The human body was
meant to hunt and gather, not sit for 40-60
hours per week at a computer. This results
in early degeneration of spinal joints in your
neck, loss of the normal curves and position
(subluxation) and eventually a diagnosis of
arthritis.
VASCULAR OR MIGRAINE
The nervous system manages blood delivery
by using body position and your body uses
information from nerves as well as pressure
receptors in the blood vessels in your neck
that go to your head and brain. There are 4
major blood vessels and if the pressure below
the neck is low then the pressure above the
neck can be high, which could easily trigger
a “vascular” headache. Vascular headaches
can be triggered by changes in blood volume
(mild dehydration) and blood sugar balance
and control.
AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM
The part of our nervous system related to
stress, protection and defense is called
the sympathetic nervous system. The part
of the nervous system associated with
digestion, relaxation, healing and repair is
called the para-sympathetic system. At
any given point only one can be dominant.
Many of us have excessive sympathetic tone
(stressed) resulting in an imbalanced state.
This can lead to the inability of our stress
management system to keep up with the
demands. This can trigger morning, sleep
deprived type headache.
SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION
Often times people with these types of
headaches have other chronic pain syndromes.
A careful look at blood chemistry and diet is
important here because of how common it is
for people to be sensitive to common food
proteins.
Dr. G’s Relief Recommendations
HYDRATE
• Drink water with lemon! It has an
“alkalizing effect”.
GET EQUIPPED
• For morning headaches, try a cervical
support pillow
• For migraines, try an icepack while lying
on your back where skull and neck meet
for 10 minutes every hour.
GRINDING
Clenching or grinding teeth is due to
contraction and spasm of the muscles
involved with your jaw and teeth while
you sleep. The excessive use of the
muscles creates a soreness and release of
inflammation over the muscles around your
temples over the front side portion of your
head.
GET CHECKED
• Have your spine evaluated by a
chiropractor.
GET UP!
• Maintain spinal range of motion and
flexibility through regular exercise.
4
SYMPTOM
Difficulty Sleeping
Understanding Your Sleep Pattern
Dr. G’s Relief Recommendations
HEALING PROPERTIES
Sleep is underestimated in its importance for
healthy living and avoiding chronic illness like
arthritis, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and
the like. There are so many bodily processes
of growth, healing and repair that occur when
we sleep and the truth is we cant do without
it or without “enough” of it. The research is
clear. As adults we function best if we get
just about 8 hours of sleep. Less than 8 hours
is fine as long as there is a “catch up” day
during the week.
ENVIRONMENT
• Sleep environment should be silent and
dark. No television, radio, music and
eliminate all light from the room. Eye
mask if necessary.
• Use software like https://justgetflux.com/
which changes the light spectrum coming
from your computer based on the time of
day. Our computer screens are designed
to use the full spectrum of daylight. It is
not good for your brain to experience the
full spectrum into the evening.
• Read yourself to sleep. Do not use a
back-lit device.
Many of my patients report no more than 3-4
hours of sleep for years. Usually women with
undiagnosed thyroid dysfunction or thyroid
dysfunction with normal lab tests (common
symptoms include anxiety, depression,
weight gain). It is no surprise that companies
who want to sell health and wellness
products have their infomercials on in the
middle of the night. They are very aware
millions of women who can’t sleep, are likely
to impulse buy a product that can make them
look and feel the way they once did.
QUALITY
• Determine your quality of sleep. People
who snore are in danger of experiencing
apnea (repeated blockage of airway
during the night, resulting in serious
health issues). A clue to your quality of
sleep can be determined by using at home
biometric devices or software apps that
give a score to your quality of sleep. Fitbit
and jawbone devices have sleep tracking
software.
• Have ASI (adrenal stress index) performed
by your wellness expert or functional
medicine doctor. ASI tracks the hormone
cortisol. Cortisol impacts your quality of
sleep.
TYPES OF SLEEP PROBLEMS
Sleep problems can include too little deep
(REM) sleep, difficulty falling asleep, difficulty
staying asleep, or both. Some botanical
and herbal supplements give doctors of
functional medicine diagnostic clues if they
work. For example GABA, Valerian, Melatonin
and the like give us clues as to what system
may need to be addressed.
TAKE THE 7-DAY CHALLENGE
• Be outside for 10-20 minutes for 7 days
during the first light in the morning and
be outside at dusk, when the sun goes
down at night. Our sleep mechanism is
intimately tied to the way the sun hits our
retina.
“Sleep is underestimated in
its importance for healthy
living and avoiding chronic
illness.”
5
SYMPTOM
Can’t Lose Weight
Understanding Your Weight Issues
EAT RIGHT
• Avoid calorie restriction and calorie
counting. Focus on food types instead.
• Eat frequently. Grazing is a healthy
practice.
• Consume vegetables, vegetables, and
more vegetables. 80% of fruit and
vegetable intake for the day should be in
the vegetable family.
• Limit fruits to the middle part of the
day and avoid fruits in the morning and
evening.
• Avoid sugars and artificial sweeteners.
• Eat healthy meats like wild fish, grassfed, hormone and antibiotic free beef, or
organic poultry.
• Do not avoid fat. As a matter of fact
increase healthy fats from olive oil (not
heated), nuts and seeds (preferably raw,
no peanuts), nut butters from almonds,
walnuts, cashews (not peanut butter), and
extra virgin coconut oil.
• Cut the glycemic index by combining fat
and fruit. For example, dipping apple
slices in almond butter reduces the sugar
effect of the apple.
• Your first meal of the day should be
mostly protein, healthy fat and/or
vegetables.
• Snack on healthy nuts, seeds, and veggies
every 2 hours all day between bigger
meals. This will prevent excessive hunger
and the cravings for food that is less
healthy.
• Legumes, grains and anything made from
grains should be limited and even avoided.
THE EXCEPTION
When diet and exercise listed above do not
work or get you to a point where you hit a
plateau, you may have something else going
on.
The common misconception is that if you
consume fewer calories than you burn you
will lose weight, and for the most part you
will. Unfortunately this is the model that has
a 98% rate of gaining all the weight back and
then some, resulting in a “yoyo” experience
which is documented to be very unhealthy.
Dr. G’s Relief Recommendations
Get these recommendations right 80% of the
time and most people will do great.
More stubborn cases will require further
evaluation and management.
BE FIT
• Exercise, 3-5 times per week, preferably
in the morning. High intensity interval
training (HIIT) is optimal.
GET YOUR HEAD RIGHT
• Spend some time in quiet solitude during
the morning and/or evening. Meditation
or prayer rhythmically practiced has a
calming effect that will impact your other
bodily systems dramatically.
“Get these recommendations
right 80% of the time and
most people will do great. ”
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