Dr. Ryan Best, ND

What’s one thing we do for each of our oncology patients here at Neurvana Naturopathic Medicine?

Micronutrient testing 🧪✨

It allows us to get the precise information we need to make very specific recommendations for each patient, which they can then use to optimize their immune system function.

Micronutrient testing typically involves a blood test to look for deficiencies or depletions in various different types of nutrients such as:

🔹 B vitamins

🔹 Vitamin C

🔹 Fat-soluble nutrients such as Vitamins A, D, E, and K

🔹 Amino acid and fatty acid concentrations

🔹 Various other micronutrients and minerals that are essential for cellular repair, immune system function, and inflammation regulation.

Why is this important? 🧐

The cancer itself - as well as many conventional cancer treatments - can often cause severe depletions of essential nutrients; and when these levels are low, your body’s healing capabilities can become significantly impaired.

If you don’t have enough of those building blocks to stimulate repair and create necessary molecules, you may end up with faulty repair mechanisms and a lot of damage that can go unchecked 🔨

Interested in doing ALL you can to heal properly during and after cancer treatment?

Click the link in my bio to speak with one of our Patient Care Coordinators ☝️

We can’t wait to work with you 💙

Are you feeling burnt out in your cancer fight?⠀
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Does it feel like you’ve exhausted all your options? ⠀
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If this sounds familiar, please take this as a sign to KEEP GOING. ⠀
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Chances are, you have plenty of options still available to you. You just haven’t been presented with them yet. ⠀
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With Integrative Cancer Care, we use a person-centred, holistic approach to cancer treatment. Not only does this involve supporting you in every way you need to be supported, but we also look at EVERY possible treatment route, including:⠀
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🔹 Lifestyle and dietary changes⠀
🔹 Stress mitigation techniques⠀
🔹 Conventional treatments ⠀
🔹 Nutrients and nutraceuticals⠀
🔹 Tumor sensitivity testing⠀
🔹 Evidence-based treatments from all around the world⠀
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We look at ALL the options available and create a customized treatment plan specifically designed for YOU. ⠀
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I’m here to tell you that there IS still hope 💙⠀
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Are you ready to renew your cancer fight? ⠀
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Click the link in my bio to book a discovery call with one of our Patient Care Coordinators ⬆️⠀
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When it comes to cancer care, nutrition MATTERS 🗣

Not only does it matter when it comes to survival rates, but it also plays a considerable role in one’s quality of life throughout cancer treatment.

Research has shown that individuals who follow a more Mediterranean, plant-based diet experience a drastic improvement in both quality of life and in their chances of reaching long-term remission.

This is compared to individuals who are consuming a Standard American Diet, which involves high carbohydrate intake, high meat intake, and low fiber intake 🍔🍟

So, what is the Mediterranean Diet? 👀⬇️

It’s a style of eating based on the traditions of Italy, Greece, and other countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of:

🥗 Plant-based foods, such as whole grains, vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts, and seeds
🐟 Moderate amounts of seafood
🌰 Healthy fats, such as nuts and olive oil
🚫 Very low amounts of dairy and red meat

These findings allow us to design an effective nutrition intervention to improve our patients’ quality of life AND help them reach their goals of long-term remission.

You’ll never walk away from us wondering: “What more can I do?”

With Integrative Cancer Care, we cover all the bases 💙

Do you have any questions about nutrition during cancer treatment? Drop them in the comments below 👇 and be sure to SHARE this post if you found it helpful!

Do you tend to associate cancer treatment with a poor quality of life?

A common misconception in our society is that cancer care automatically means suffering. It means missing out on life and losing your already precious time with your loved ones 💔

This is caused by the assumption that there are no effective treatments for the side effects of chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy, and other conventional treatments.

The reality is, most potential side effects DO have research-supported therapies that can help to reduce their severity (and sometimes prevent them from happening in the first place!)

These therapies include:

💊 Off-label medications
🌱 Supplements
🩸 Intravenous therapies
💉 Injection therapies
🧘 Lifestyle and dietary changes

By protecting healthy cells from significant damage during cancer treatment, we can not only decrease rates of long-term side effects and the risk of development of other disorders but also increase the chances of long-term remission.

This is where Integrative Cancer Care comes in ✨

It utilizes a personalized approach when it comes to cancer treatment and takes into consideration individual patient preferences and concerns, testing to determine unique factors about your physiology, and detailed follow-up and monitoring to help make effective treatment decisions.

With Integrative Cancer Care, It is COMPLETELY possible to feel supported, hopeful, healthy, and in control in the midst of cancer treatment 💙

Interested in learning more?

Click the link in my bio to read the full blog on how Integrative Cancer Care can help you maintain your quality of life 👆

A cancer diagnosis can leave one’s mind spinning, and it’s not uncommon for patients to ask themselves:

🔹 What could have caused this?

🔹 Are there risk factors in my environment?

🔹 What can I do differently going forward?

Unfortunately, most of us are surrounded by harmful substances linked to cancer development and progression. These carcinogens can be found in our food, water sources, and the products we use daily. As these chemicals build up in our systems, they pose more and more of a risk of cancer development.

This is why we conduct a comprehensive environmental assessment with each one of our oncology patients in order to identify any risk factors and then eliminate them as much as possible 🏡🚫

Interested in learning more about environmental risk factors and what we look for in an assessment? 🤔

Click the link below to read the full blog, “How Your Environment Affects Cancer Treatment” ✍️⬇️

https://neurvanahealth.com/condition-information/how-your-environment-affects-cancer-treatment/

Did you know that we conduct a detailed environmental assessment with each oncology patient? 🏡

Our goal is to understand the individual factors that need improvement and make very specific recommendations on how to alleviate any environmental exposures that are negatively contributing to your health, disease, and your quality of life as you go through cancer treatment.

There are four main factors we look at:

1️⃣ Water quality. It’s important for us to understand what types of exposures you might have in your water system. We’ll then recommend changes to the water filtration unit to make sure your water is clean and healthy.

2️⃣ Air quality. It’s also important that we look at air quality in your home, especially when we’re dealing with respiratory and lung cancers.

3️⃣ Food quality. We take a look at your diet and make sure that your foods are sourced well.

4️⃣ Sleep hygiene. Sleep is a really important part of recovery, which is why we assess the design of your bedroom and determine how we can improve your ability to fall asleep, stay asleep, and maintain a high quality of sleep.

When it comes to Integrative Oncology, we look at the WHOLE person, including lifestyle, resources, and environment 💙

Could you or a loved one benefit from an environmental assessment? 🤔

Click the link below to book a complimentary discovery call with one of our trained care coordinators 👇

https://neurvanahealth.com/book-consult/

There’s no doubt about it - nutrition is the cornerstone of cancer treatment 🥑

Research has consistently found that a diet full of fruits and vegetables can play a protective role in cancer care. Particularly foods such as:

🔸 Broccoli
🔸 Brussel sprouts
🔸 Cabbage, and
🔸 Garlic

Moreover, foods rich in nutrients such as,

🔹 Antioxidants
🔹 Folic acid
🔹 Selenium
🔹 Vitamin B12, and
🔹 Vitamin D

can help to reduce your risk of breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer by limiting the reproduction of harmful cancer cells.

But why exactly does what you eat matter? And which diet is optimal for cancer prevention and treatment? 🤔

Click the link below to read the full blog, How Nutrition Plays a Part in Cancer Care ⬇️

https://neurvanahealth.com/condition-information/how-nutrition-plays-a-part-in-cancer-care/

It’s no secret that cancer can have a multitude of environmental causes ⚠️

This is why environmental testing is such a big part of my work with oncology patients.

Our goal is to understand if any toxins have accumulated in your body with very accurate blood and urine tests. If they show up elevated, this will help us make a targeted therapeutic treatment plan to:

1️⃣ Remove the toxins through evidence-based therapies, and

2️⃣ Design a prevention plan.

We assess your environment, including your food, water, home, and work, to find out where these exposures are coming from and then prevent them from ever happening again

At Neurvana Naturopathic Medicine, we like to hit cancer from all sides 💙

Are you interested in tackling your cancer diagnosis head-on?

Start by clicking the link below to book your free discovery call 👇

https://neurvanahealth.com/book-consult/

Are you curious if low-level laser therapy is right for you? 🚨

This is how we decide whether or not you’re a good candidate 👇

Low-level laser therapy will typically be applied if you have a well-researched condition with clinical trials that have shown it to be safe and effective. This is determined by a qualified practitioner, like myself, who knows the research very well and can understand when we should be applying low-level laser therapy.

For example, if you’re dealing with inflammation or damage to mitochondrial tissue underneath the area where you have symptoms such as:

🔹 Pain
🔹 Irritation
🔹 Burns, or
🔹 Skin lesions

Low-level laser therapy may be beneficial because we know that it produces the exact opposite effects, including:

👉 Reducing local inflammation on the tissue it's applied to, and

👉 Stimulating mitochondrial activity to ramp up the healing ability of that issue.

Thus, when we see that you’re exhibiting damage to the systems that low-level laser therapy has been proven to treat, THAT’S when we try it to see if it will alleviate your discomfort.

In short - we don’t take shots in the dark when it comes to these treatments 💡

Interested in learning more about low-level laser therapy? 🧐

Click the link below to read all about its benefits and the conditions it can treat ⬇️

https://neurvanahealth.com/laser-therapy/

Are you dealing with cancer treatment-related mouth sores?

Have you been told that you need to wait until treatment is completed to treat them?

I want you to know that this is NOT the case ✋🚫

We have very effective treatments for oral mouth sores that occur during chemotherapy and radiation that can be used:

🔹 Preventatively
🔹 When they start to show up
🔹 When they become severe

We can intervene WHILE you’re still going through those conventional treatments to not only reduce the severity of your mouth sores but often completely alleviate them altogether.

We can even stop them from ever coming back with preventative care as you go through consecutive rounds of treatment.

Cancer treatment doesn’t always have to mean suffering 💙

Take control of your cancer journey today by clicking the link below to book your free discovery call 👇

https://neurvanahealth.com/book-consult/

Are you struggling to get a full night's sleep as you undergo cancer treatment? 💤

This can be incredibly frustrating. After all, our bodies need sleep to heal.

So, why is sleeplessness SO common for people undergoing cancer care?

1️⃣ A cancer diagnosis and various treatments tend to bring along significant stress and mental health challenges, including anxiety, depression, and anger. These can often directly impact our ability to fall asleep and stay asleep.

2️⃣ Certain cancer treatments can have secondary side effects that affect our ability to fall asleep and stay asleep, especially if they’re not well controlled. These include 👇

🔸 Pain
🔸 Urinary incontinence and needing to go frequently.
🔸 Gastrointestinal disturbances (such as diarrhea, frequent bowel movements, and gastrointestinal irritation).

Luckily, there are effective ways to minimize these troublesome side effects AND manage any mental health issues as well.

If you can’t seem to get adequate sleep during cancer treatment, PLEASE reach out and see how we can help 💙

Click the link below to book a free discovery call with one of our Patient Care Coordinators ⬇️

https://neurvanahealth.com/book-consult/

Why do we conduct micronutrient testing with each oncology patient? 🧪👇

It’s no secret that both cancer and certain cancer treatments can have damaging effects on our physiology. This often causes severe depletions of a lot of different essential nutrients; and when these levels get low, our healing capability becomes impaired.

If you don’t have enough of those building blocks to actually stimulate repair and create the molecules necessary to heal, you end up with very faulty repair mechanisms and a lot of damage that goes unchecked.

The same thing goes for immune system function - certain micronutrients, minerals, and vitamins are absolutely vital 💯

Thus, micronutrient testing can give us a lot of information on how we can fine-tune dietary approaches for each individual patient based on what nutrients are actually low inside their system.

THIS is how we make extremely specific dietary and supplement recommendations for you.

Simply put, we don’t play guessing games when it comes to your treatment plan 📋

Are you ready to do ALL you can to beat cancer? 👊

Click the link below to book a free discovery call ⬇️ We’d love to work with you.

https://neurvanahealth.com/book-consult/

One of the first questions you might ask after a cancer diagnosis is: “How should I adjust my diet?” 🥗

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of misinformation floating around saying that diet and nutrients won’t make a difference in your outcomes and quality of life, but I can tell you that research conclusively states the exact opposite.

Nutrition plays a HUGE role in not only your outcomes, but it can also significantly change your quality of life while going through treatment and after treatment is complete.

When you work with me, nutritional changes are always going to be a hallmark piece of cancer treatment. This will differ greatly from patient to patient depending on:

1️⃣ The type of cancer
2️⃣ The stage of cancer
3️⃣ Treatments that are being used
4️⃣ Any side effects you’re experiencing
5️⃣ Any side effects we want to prevent
6️⃣ Your personal preferences and needs

ALL of these pieces come into play when we’re designing your specific nutritional protocols because we want them to be as effective as possible 🎯

Are you ready to have a targeted dietary plan based on your specific physiology? 🧬

Click the link below to schedule a free discovery call with one of our patient care coordinators 👇

https://neurvanahealth.com/book-consult/

A cancer diagnosis can be terrifying, pivotal, and life-altering.

You meet your Oncologist, they explain the standard treatment protocol for your diagnosis… but then what? 🤔

What more can you do to increase your odds of survival?

One word: Exercise 💪

Research has shown that maintaining healthy levels of aerobic and anaerobic fitness (such as weight-bearing exercises like walking and weight lifting) can significantly increase long-term survival ratings.

Not only that, but consistent exercise has been shown to:

🔹 Improve fatigue and pain scores
🔹 Help mobile function
🔹 Reduce brain fog, and
🔹 Improve cognition

Interested in learning more about how to incorporate a healthy fitness plan into your cancer treatment WITHOUT burning yourself out?

Click the link below to read the full blog on “The Role of Exercise in Holistic Cancer Care” ✍️👇

If you’re dealing with the debilitating side effects of cancer treatment, you need to know about low-level laser therapy 🚨👇

Also called photobiomodulation, low-level laser therapy is a painless treatment that involves high-intensity red and infrared light. By applying the light to your tissue through a series of probes, low-level laser therapy can help to alleviate several different side effects of cancer, as well as side effects caused by different cancer treatments.

In fact, low-level laser therapy is currently one of the best-researched treatments that we have available for certain side effects such as:

🔹 Peripheral Neuropathy, which involves nerve damage to the hands and feet caused by cancer treatments such as chemotherapy.

🔹 Radiation-induced burns, caused by inflammation and damage to the tissue after radiation treatments.

🔹 Breast cancer-related lymphedema, which involves swelling under the armpit and into the arm after the removal of lymph nodes.

There is absolutely NO reason for you to suffer through these side effects. When applied directly over the top of this tissue, low-level laser therapy can significantly reduce swelling, pain, and discomfort - and speed up healing time 🌱

If you think you could benefit from low-level laser therapy, please click the link below to book a call with one of our Patient Care Coordinators ⬇️

We can help! 💙

https://neurvanahealth.com/book-consult/

Should you exercise during cancer treatment? 🤔

The resounding answer to this question is: YES.

Research has consistently shown that maintaining healthy levels of aerobic and anaerobic (weight-bearing) exercise can lead to significantly better survival ratings long term.

We’re not just talking about a 1-2% difference – we’re talking about changes that are on par with medications used to treat cancer.

Exercise can be THAT powerful 🔥

Now let’s talk about the elephant in the room: exercising during cancer treatment is definitely easier said than done.

Just remember this:

Daily check-ins with yourself are important. If you’re really struggling one day, don’t push it. Instead, opt for more gentle movements as you build back up your strength. When you’re feeling a bit better, begin to move the intensity scale up to a more moderate level.

The bottom line? It’s okay to have days where you don’t feel up to pushing yourself. It’s not going to make or break your outcomes. The most important thing is consistency and working to build your strength 💙

You got this 💪

Do you feel like you need more support in your cancer journey?

Click the link below to book a free discovery call 👇

https://neurvanahealth.com/book-consult/