The Gateway Natural Medicine Blog

Post Infectious (Disease) Syndrome; Part I: The Basics
You’ve experienced it before: It’s that blah feeling you have the days following that nasty cold or GI bug. You haven’t regained all your energy and you’re a bit more irritable. Staying in bed and sleeping seems like the perfect Saturday night. You feel like you are...

Vitamin A Burst Therapy
Dr. Brett Wisniewski It is a beautiful day in the world of Natural Medicine because we are finally seeing mass acceptance from the general public, mostly under the guise of Functional Medicine. Unfortunately, with this “new-found” medicine, everyone is in a mad dash...

Postprandial Adrenergic Syndrome Revisited 2020: The Importance of Meal Size and Timing
Dr. Brett Wisniewski I originally wrote about postprandial adrenergic syndrome (PPAS) in 2017 (Original Article Here) and even at that point in time, it had been a long time coming. A decade of patients has come and gone some complaining of this strange syndrome, and...

Don’t be Mad. Be Glad Your Doctor Doesn’t Take Insurance.
It’s a bummer, I know. You navigate the nonsensical world of insurance and medicine to finally discover your doctor. The office has great reviews, their staff seems nice and friendly, the support staff is knowledgeable but….they don’t take your...

Adrenal Fatigue Is Not Real: Part I
Drs. Takacs and Wisniewski The Origins The term “adrenal fatigue” started sometime in the 1970s. It served as an explanation for patients who suffered from fatigue that could not be explained by other causes. This was never an appropriate term for what is happening,...

“Chemical Free” Hot Tub- Chlorine and Bromine Free Spa Care
Note: Water that is not properly cared for and sanitized appropriately can lead to serious injury ranging from skin rashes to death. Be sure that you have a way to test your water regularly for harmful bacteria. There are many at home test kits and also your local...
Is Keto the Answer? Plus 5 common Keto-mistakes
By Shaun Adams DC, DABCI The Ketogenic diet remains one of the most popular weight loss diets for people to attempt right now. While we recognize there are some great benefits to the diet, especially for certain groups of people, it is not for everyone. However, if...

Fish Consumption and Mercury Exposure
In a study recently published in the journal Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry researchers questioned college students about their tuna consumption and their knowledge of possible mercury toxicity from eating too much of the tuna. Hair samples...
Heat Related Illness. What You Need to Know.
It is that time of year again—the kids are out of school; summer plans are in effect and the temperature is rising. This combo normally makes for an enjoyable summer, but some are caught off guard. It doesn’t take much, just a few minutes in some cases, and when the...

7 Testosterone Boosting foods
by Shaun Adams, DC, DABCI Low testosterone is becoming more and more common and we are seeing it at alarming rates in younger males. Once a condition seen in the aging population, for the first time, many males are being diagnosed in their 20-30s! There are many...

How Mold and Gut Health Can Affect Your Weight
By Shaun Adams, DC, DABCI When you think of mold, rarely does weight gain pop into your mind. Normally we think allergies or lung infections but fat deposition is not one of them. Don’t be upset, your doctor probably hasn’t connected the dots either. That is...

Seasonal Allergies + Food Sensitivities: What’s the connection?
There are so many people that suffer from allergies. You could probably count five people you know who have allergies- maybe yourself included. Allergies are the 6th leading cause of chronic illness in the U.S and it's estimated that over 50 million Americans suffer...

Stop the Mammography Madness Part II: Let’s Talk Thermography
Most articles like this will start out with statistics, such as how common cancer is or your risk of developing it; but if a disease is 1 in a million chance and you’re that 1 person—what do you care about how uncommon it is? For you it is 100%! Suffice it to say...

Ouch! Why Does Sex Hurt? + Natural Therapies for Relief
This is a topic many women feel uncomfortable discussing with me, but believe me- I talk sex with everyone. I may ask you, ‘Is pain vaginal or pelvic?’, ‘How long has your libido been low for?’, ‘How long have you had vaginal dryness?’ There are also women who think...
How Does the Female Menstrual Cycle Work?
One of the most common things I hear in practice from women after describing the menstrual cycle to them is “I had no idea that’s how that worked.” So today I want to share that same information with you all! We’ll start from the beginning. A woman’s menstrual cycle...

Sugar: Revisited
Sugar: Revisited By: Dr. Shaun Adams & Dr. Brett Wisniewski 2/5/19 We are currently in the middle of a global crisis. Diabetes, heart disease, obesity and mood disorders are all on the rise. What if I was to tell you that they all have one familiar thing in...

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) Causes + Diagnosis
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) affects 1 in 10 women of childbearing age (1). It is estimated that up to 70% of women with PCOS have not been diagnosed (2). PCOS is a disorder of the endocrine system affecting sex hormones, hypothalamus-pituitary communication,...

10 Tips for Eating During Thanksgiving
Happy Monday! Today marks the Monday leading to Thanksgiving, you’re likely doing some last minute cleaning, prepping for all of the cooking (or drinking), and some of you may be braving the crowds for the crazy black Friday sales. I will be crossing my fingers and...

Benefits of Drinking Kombucha & How to Make It
Dr. Katie Takacs B.S., D.C. It is very common now to see glass bottles front and center in the grocery store, filled with carbonated, ginger flavored kombucha. What the heck is kombucha? Why are so many people consuming it? What is Kombucha? Kombucha is...
Is Marijuana Safe to Use During Pregnancy?
Marijuana use during pregnancy Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug during pregnancy. From 2002 to 2014 the prevalence of self-reported, past month marijuana use among US adult pregnant women increased from 2.4% to 3.9% (1). Currently, about 1 in 20 women...

Your Summer Survival Guide to Mosquitos: Illness, Repellent, and Prevention
Mosquitos- those pesky little buggers they ruin your Saturday cookout and then leave you with incessant night time itching. For some it may sound like your college girlfriend…joking. These fly looking things are what nightmares are made of, sometimes small enough to...

Listening to Science: Debunking a Serious Medical Myth
Dr. Brett Wisniewski, MS, DC, DABCI, DACBN and Dr. Katie Takacs, DC Medicine and science. Science and medicine. They go so well together it almost seems synonymous these days. We have made drastic leaps in medical technologies, which have allowed us to understand...

Custom orthotics can help more than you think
Your body is an interconnected system of specialized parts, and the support structure which holds everything together is made up of bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Even if your feet don’t hurt, they may be contributing to your overall postural balance. If...

Postprandial Adrenergic Syndrome: “Post Meal Anxiety”
Patients often tell me they feel hopeless, crazy and just down right scared. They have made multiple trips to the doctors feeling as though they have developed food allergies yet testing reveals nothing. Leaving those visits fuels frustration and has one questioning...

Antibiotic Resistance: A Present Day Epidemic
A survey conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), of nearly 10,000 adults concluded the following about antibiotics: – Three quarters of respondents think antibiotic resistance happens when the body (not bacteria) becomes resistant to antibiotics. – Nearly...

Your Stressed OUT Immune System: A Story of Cortisol and the Immune Response
Ahh, the holiday season. For some it’s the most wonderful time of year—nice chilly mornings filled with fresh air, hot chocolate by the fire and delectable holiday treats. If for you, you think of Kleenex, the chills and canned chicken soup, well then this article is...

The Sticky Truth on Cholesterol: More than your Average Lipid Test
By, Dr. Brett Wisniewski and Dr. Jaclyn Suffi Our quest for optimal cardiovascular health is never-ending. First it was the low fat diet, now it's the liberal prescription of statin drugs and tomorrow it will be a 3D printed heart replacement. As medicine advances,...

Not Another Anti-Vaccine Rant: 2015 Flu Vaccine
Another year down and another poor performance by the flu vaccine. We were promised, in early 2015, that scientists had finally got ahead of the curve with the 2015 strain. Well they didn’t. Was this an accurate statement or simply marketing? I’m not sure we will ever...
Chiropractic Internist…What is that?
Often times we will get asked: What is a Chiropractic Internist? Historically chiropractic has been well known for its beneficial role in alleviating back pain and headaches, as well as improving athletic performance. Little attention is given...

Should we accept 82% failure? The Flu Vaccine.
Next time you are at a restaurant ask the waiter for the item that has an 82% chance of being bad. Or buy the TV that has an 82% failure rate. You probably wouldn’t do either of these, right? Well why not? You don’t have to be a mathematician to understand the...
Re-thinking inflammatory events: The inflammatory bucket
At the crux of all disease is inflammation. This is no secret. The effects of inflammation are determined by a patient’s ability to cope with or mitigate inflammatory events. This is heavily influenced by genetics/inborn errors of metabolism and environmental...
GMOs, glyphosphates, paleo diet…what’s with all the confusion?
The following was copied directly from: http://www.ichnfm.org/publications/content/2015_rebuttal_sa.html After reading it, I thought it was important to share in an unadulterated form. This article does contain a significant amount of research and medical...

Just feed her pasta….
The following was taken from an email that was sent out to our subscribers on 7-26-15 My sister called me this morning to tell me that her dog was sick. They took her to the ER Vet last night because they thought her Lyme disease had flared again. The Vet concluded...

Top 6 Reasons to Fire your Physician
Written by: Dr. Brett Wisniewski and Benjamin Harwood This is one of those things that is rarely discussed in medicine, but I’m going to put my neck out there and let you all in on a little secret. When you enter a doctor’s office, you have essentially HIRED them to...

When a Calorie is More than a Calorie: Fructose The Silent Killer
Next time you are in a crowd, look to your left, now look to your right. Statistically, you will see more overweight individuals than those of normal weight. We are in the midst of a crisis in this country both financially and medically—believe it or not, they are...

The Gut-Brain Connection
What if I was to tell you that the bacteria and the environment in which they live is responsible for more than just how your stomach feels? What if I was to tell you that, depending on the number, variety, and vitality of your gut microbiota, it can determine or be...

The Viral Link in Alzheimer’s Disease: The Sleeping Giant
Alzheimer’s Disease, AD, is one of the fastest growing diseases of the aging population. It is estimated that 5 million people are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, with at least 60% of those being women. It is estimated by 2050 about 15 million will be diagnosed....

Genetic Testing for Detoxification—Missing Link in Drug Effectiveness and Safety
The term “detoxification” gets thrown around a lot, especially this time of year yet the importance is often overlooked. Anything and everything that enters the body, from topical application or oral administration, must be processed and detoxified. Often times...

Ebola: The Basics
It's hard to have a conversation without the topic of Ebola popping up, but do we really understand exactly what it is other than we don’t want to “catch” it? Let's start with the basics. Ebola is a viral infection. A virus that must live...

Vitamin C: More Than Your Ordinary Vitamin.
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a household name mostly for its function in boosting the immune system, but it plays many other roles. Over the years I’ve read numerous studies on ascorbic acid and effects on the body and was always amazed that something as “simple”...

Chipotle Lime Avocado Mayo
Sundays are dedicated to rest and relaxation. This can consist of anything from reading research, watching a movie on a rainy day or food prepping!! Here is a quick recipe in place of that mayo you put on your sandwich or use to make chicken salad....

Organic Vs. Non-Organic: Is it worth it?
The debate continues against organic vs. non-organic and GMO vs. NON-GMO. In my opinion, the science is clear that Organic, NON-GMO foods are not only a better choice, but should be the only one. It still baffles me that “man” feels like he/she needs to...

Stop the Mammography Madness: Part 1
The gold-standard in breast cancer prevention is currently the mammography, or simply, a breast X-ray. Some less endearing labels I have heard are: “the compactor,” the “breast vise,” and the “can compressor”. A diagnostic procedure that is so infamous it has...

Is Gluten Free one big HOAX?
The gluten-free industry is currently totaling $10.5 billion and is expected to produce around $15 billion in 2016. Compare that to the more seasoned, sugar free market, at $13.3 billion. So what sparked this volatile growth in the gluten-free world? ...

From Table Top to the Bedroom, Increase Your Pleasure
This is not an article to talk about the latest and greatest compound found deep in the jungle to help improve your sex life. In fact, the substance we are going to discuss has been around for thousands of years, but is usually used for an entirely different purpose....

3 Things You NEED to Know About Green Tea
Green tea began its life in ancient China and is made from the Camellia sinensis plant. It was originally harvested for medicinal purposes and later a method of consumption, drinking, came into vogue. Like many herbs, green tea contains chemicals called polyphenols....

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: All in your Head or in your GUT?
Doctor:” What seems to be going on today?” Patient: “Well Doc, I have been tired for a while” Doctor: ”Really? How long have you been fatigued?” Patient: “I would guess a little over 6 months.” Doctor: “So would you consider yourself to have chronic...

Sugar is just Sugar what is the BIG deal?
We are currently in the middle of a global crisis. Diabetes, heart disease, obesity and mood disorders are all on the rise. What if I was to tell you that they all have one familiar thing in common? What if I could show you simple ways to improve...

What do my Cholesterol numbers REALLY mean?
Short answer to the above question, NOTHING when taken out of context, which is most, commonly what happens. Cholesterol has really gotten a bad rap, almost to the point where we would want to remove it completely, but cholesterol is not a dirty word. As...

Vitamin E increases Prostate Cancer? Let’s look at the research.
A recent study stated that Vitamin E increases the risk for prostate cancer. This is a great example of how figures and studies can be manipulated in the favor of a certain industry to benefit from. The most recent study on the effects of selenium and...