You have the Power: Improve your health.

At the CureCenter, we believe that the best results come for those who engage to become empowered for better health. End (or at least diminish) self-destructive choices and sustain better options. Do the best you can with what you have, forgive yourself when you fail, and get back on track for longer after each failure.

Our culture can disempower and sabotage us. We are brainwashed by our media and culture to eat addictive, poisonous junk and seek pleasure over purpose. We are encouraged to believe that our ills can be managed with pills and procedures that mostly serve the bottom line of the industries which profit from your chronic disease. You are not obliged to participate.  

The person you can rely upon most is you. The CureCenter will give you the data, measurement and improvement tools and encouragement.  We can coach you, but we can’t play your game. You, the Player, will play out your CurePlan to win or lose. 

Beware of saboteurs. They will be those closest to you who won’t understand your plan and, intentions aside, encourage you to “have just one bite” because “I made this for you” and “everything in moderation.”  Your success may be their discomfort. It is easier to pull you back in than to escape their own choices.

Caretakers have a stake in the health of those for whom they care. We owe it to our loved ones to stay as healthy as possible, as to not burden them with the consequences of a stroke or heart failure.

If there are barriers to success, we should acknowledge and seek ways to overcome them. Finances, time, responsibilities, and beliefs can stand in the way of success. Those we hang out with can drag us back from success if we challenge their choices. Do not let the other crabs pull you back in the bucket. Continue to inspire them to escape with you.

Are supplements beneficial?

As a traditional allopathic physician, Dr. Backs was trained to be skeptical of supplements. That has changed. He is now a more “open minded allopath.” There is evidence to support the use of supplements for specific purposes.

To provide a list of your current supplements, go to https://us.fullscript.com/welcome/curecenter/intake

How do I know what supplements I should take?

The supplement industry is largely unregulated, which means you should be careful about the source of supplements you take. Here are some tips to avoid supplements that can damage your health and budget:

• Choose products from companies that validate the content of their products by submitting to FDA monitoring for content. 

• Look for evidence from clinical trials when they are available. 

• Don’t rely solely on the recommendation of a friend who sells you a product and then engages you as a promoter of the product. These multilevel marketing schemes generally benefit only the founders at the expense of later entrants.

• Don’t hide the use of supplements from your physicians. They can interact with other drugs and influence your treatment.

• We use Fullscript to provide easy online access to plans and recommend specific supplements that are high value at a fair price.

Here is a list of some of the common supplements we recommend at the CureCenter and their benefits:

• Bergamot BPF: Extracted from the Bergamot lime/orange through a special process, this food extract has been shown to have many of the beneficial effects of statins (reduce LDL and inflammation) while also improving insulin sensitivity, the underlying cause of Type 2 Diabetes. We have also found it to be correlated with reduced lipoprotein(a) in some cases. We recommend it commonly for those who don’t tolerate statins, who need its help for insulin resistance or prefer non pharmacologic treatments for arterial disease and hyperlipidemia. We often recommend it to synergize with statins for even more improvement in lipids and insulin resistance.
  
  Click here for further reading about Bergamot
  

• Niacin (Vitamin B3): At the CureCenter, we recommend Niacin for those with elevated Lipoprotein(a) and small dense LDL dyslipidemia. For those who can’t or won’t take statins, it has favorable effects on lipids and inflammation. There are benefits to taking Niacin that make it worthwhile despite dealing with some annoying effects, including flushing.  Taking it at bedtime makes it more tolerable by sleeping through the flush. Diphenhydramine can help minimize the flushing experience.
  

• Vitamin D3: This supplement addresses our all-too-common deficiency of vitamin D. “Normal” levels of vitamin D3 (>30) are not optimal. Our target is a level of 60-90. Toxicity is not a problem until well above a level of 100. 

  At the CureCenter, we recommend vitamin D3 with vitamin K2. K2 serves as a transport/binding agent for vitamin D that enhances its effectiveness. Vitamin K2 also has potential arterial elasticity promoting properties, and improves insulin sensitivity. Click here for more information about vitamin K2.
  

• Diaxinol: This supplement combines a number of agents that enhance insulin sensitivity (reduce insulin resistance). Cinnamon can be a lower-cost alternative, but with the concentrated cinnamon extract and other agents in Diaxinol, we see more consistent improvement in measures that reflect insulin resistance.
  

• Fish Oil (Omega 3 fatty acids): These supplements act to lower inflammation, reduce platelet adhesion, and have several favorable effects on lipids. Our goal is to get about 200mg of combined DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) daily.
  

• Turmeric (curcumin): This is a spice with anti-inflammatory benefits that can also be taken in supplement form. Since atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease, the potential benefits are worth considering.
  

• Vitamin E: This vitamin improves arterial event (heart attack, stroke, etc.) risk in patients with Haptoglobin genotype 2-2 while increasing the risk for those whose genotype is 1-1 or 1-2. We recommend natural alpha-tocopherol vitamin E (400 IU daily) but only after knowing your haptoglobin genotype.
  

• Ubiquinol or CoEnzyme Q 10: This supplement may mitigate statin muscle pain side effects and are recommended for anyone on a statin, especially those on higher doses.
  

• Probiotics and a Prebiotic diet improves the gut microbiome, which interacts with the human body in ways that are only in the beginning stages of study and understanding. The gut microbiome can be harmed by antibiotics and environmental agents that act to alter the microbiome. Probiotics can help maintain and restore the good bacteria that we depend upon for good health. A better alternative is a “prebiotic” diet with lots of vegetable fiber and fermented foods like unpasteurized sauerkraut and kimchi.

At the CureCenter, our recommendation of specific products is intended to assure that our patients get reliable benefits at a fair price. We want you to get what you pay for. We connect you with Fullscript to enable convenient home delivery while supporting our efforts to get the correct supplement and a good value.

Interested in learning more about supplements offered at the CureCenter? Start by requesting a complementary Discovery Call with Dr. Backs today.

How can I use CureCoach.App to measure my nutrition?

CureCoach.App is our digital platform that supports our coaching effort to Cure Chronic Disease. When completing the Lifestyle Diet module, your answers provide you with tokens that are either green, yellow or red when viewing the summary page. 

The answer options are “Rarely,” “Sometimes,” and “Frequently.” Never should be reported as “rarely.” For example, rare use of sugar and frequent consumption of vegetables gets you a green token. Frequent consumption of sugar and rare use of vegetables provoke red tokens. For those choices that are less clearly good or bad, you get a yellow token. Your goal over time is to increase the number of green tokens and decrease the number of red tokens by changing the choices and answers to these questions. 

CureCoach.App can be accessed on your computer, tablet, or smartphone by clicking here.