Meet Ellen, a 64-year-old woman whose health challenges tell a story many of us can relate to. Over the past 15 years, she’s faced chronic stomach aches, diarrhea, persistent congestion, and allergic reactions, including unexplained anaphylaxis episodes several times a year. Add to this a demanding job, poor quality diet, little to no exercise, and you see a picture of a life out of balance.
When Ellen came to us, she was ready for change but didn’t know where to start. A decade ago, she had attempted an elimination diet on her own with some temporary benefit. Ellen now felt that she needed professional guidance on how to navigate a structured food elimination and reasonable supplement plan. At The UltraWellness Center, we offer an option to work only with a nutritionist. Our team of Licensed Dietetic Nutritionists take a comprehensive, functional medicine approach to uncover the root causes of health issues and tailor nutrition plans to each person’s unique needs.
Step One: Understanding Ellen’s Health Landscape
My first step was to gather detailed information about Ellen’s health history, lifestyle, and diet.
Her lifestyle included a demanding work schedule with long hours, often leading her to consume convenience foods quickly between work meetings. Her diet was high in sugar, processed foods, and dairy, with inconsistent meals and frequent snacks substituting for proper meals.
At her initial visit, Ellen was 20 pounds overweight, did not exercise, experienced joint pain, poor hydration habits and lacked stress management practices. Previous conventional lab tests ordered by her primary physician indicated:
- Suboptimal vitamin D level of 40 ng/mL (in functional medicine, a good range is between 50-80 ng/mL)
- High LDL cholesterol of 166 mg/dL (good goal closer to 100 mg/dL)
- Low HDL cholesterol of 45 mg/dL (good goal closer to 60 mg/dL)
- Elevated hemoglobin A1c of 5.7%, indicating pre-diabetes
I also ordered functional testing to assess if intestinal barrier function, or markers of “leaky gut”, could be contributing to digestive upset and food sensitives. The test indicated that Ellen indeed had significant markers for intestinal permeability and gut inflammation. Additionally, I ordered a nutrigenomics profile to review her unique genetic contributors. This revealed genetic variants associated with reduced histamine metabolism (often related to symptoms resembling allergic reactions). She was also found to have variants associated with impaired blood sugar and insulin regulation which is likely one contributor to her elevated hemoglobin A1c, which is a marker of your average glucose over the course of 3 months.
Step Two: Dietary Overhaul
We began right away with a foundational change: Ellen adopted an elimination diet, removing gluten, dairy and added sugars —common triggers for gut inflammation and allergic reactions. Additionally, we implemented a low-histamine diet to help manage her allergic responses and chronic congestion.
Step Three: Targeted Supplementation
To support her healing process, we introduced several key supplements:
- Vitamin D: To address her suboptimal level and support immune function.
- Magnesium: To help with stress and reduce joint pain.
- Herbal antihistamines: To naturally reduce severity of allergic responses and congestion.
- Specific probiotics strains: To support histamine metabolism and encourage a healthy microbial population.
- L-glutamine: To repair the gut lining.
- Immunoglobulins: To support the gut’s immune system and healing.
Step Four: Lifestyle Modifications
We worked together on setting goals that were realistic and approachable for Ellen at the time. I encouraged her to integrate gentle exercise into her routine, starting with yoga, walking, and low impact strength training using resistance bands. This helped improve her physical fitness, joint pain, improved her hydration and stress levels. Stress management techniques, such as deep breathing exercises, were also essential in helping Ellen find balance in her busy life. We focused on scheduling regular meal times and preparing balanced meals to bring to work. She soon realized that past allergic responses had been associated with times of high stress, thus, empowering her to prioritize self-care.
Step Five: Monitoring and Adjusting
Over five months, Ellen’s commitment to her new lifestyle yielded remarkable results:
- A 16-pound weight loss
- Complete resolution of digestive symptoms, with regular daily bowel movements
- Increased energy, enhanced stress resilience and mood
- Reduced allergy symptoms with notably improved congestion and no recent anaphylaxis episodes
- Began reintroducing some higher histamine foods and high-quality dairy back into her diet without adverse effects
Ongoing Support and Future Goals
Our current focus is on optimizing Ellen’s cardiovascular and metabolic health by increasing her fiber intake and supplementing with berberine to help lower LDL cholesterol and improve blood sugar control. Ellen has requested an advanced lipid profile from her primary care physician which we will review to help further assess her cardiovascular risk.
While Ellen’s work commitments continue to be challenging, she has made significant strides in balancing her health and lifestyle. She uses deep breathing exercises to manage stress and support her overall well-being. For situations where she cannot avoid histamine-containing foods, she utilizes an enzyme supplement called DAO (diamine oxidase) which helps reduce her histamine response, experiencing less congestion and bloating as a result.
Ellen’s story highlights the transformative impact of addressing the root causes of health issues and making personalized, sustainable lifestyle changes. If her journey resonates with you, consider exploring how functional nutrition can help you achieve your own health goals.
