March 2005

Where is your nutritional certainty?

by Dr. Marvin Braun

The nerve system can operate at "peak" capacity only when the body is properly nourished, properly rested, and all joints ‑‑ especially the spinal joints ‑‑ are in normal alignment and moving freely within their normal range of motion.

The ideal alignment and motion of the joints to ensure optimum nerve system function is the unique specialty of the chiropractic profession. Although we, as a profession, may not be perfect at helping people attain optimum nerve system function, we are a century ahead of anybody else, and the best the world has to offer.

But what about nutrition? Where is our certainty when it comes to knowing what each patient needs, and if that patient is experiencing any nutritional deficiencies that are preventing his/her nerve system and entire body from functioning optimally? True, the chiropractic profession probably leads the field in this area as well, but for many chiropractors, recommending nutritional supplements is based solely on the patient's symptomotology or some general 'cookbook' approach or program.

I would like to briefly introduce a new technology called the Nutritional Deficiency Identification System (NDIS). The NDIS takes the guesswork out of nutrition by identifying each individual's unique nutritional supplemental needs in an objective and scientific manner.

America is a mix of many people from many different cultures. Just think for a moment of the vast differences in the traditional diets of an American Eskimo, a native from the Polynesian Islands, and an Irish farmer. It is preposterous to think that one magic nutritional supplement will satisfy every individual, considering all the hereditary differences in intake, absorption, and assimilation. Even if one nutritional supplement were the answer, how would you know which one? The NDIS lets the inner wisdom of the body tell you what it needs and can actually utilize.

The Nutritional Deficiency Identification System was developed by Dr. James Henry who was frustrated by the shortcomings of existing methods of nutritional deficiency identification such as blood chemistry, saliva, urine, muscle testing, acupoint testing, and hair analysis. He was searching for a truly objective and scientific method to identify what each patient's unique nutritional needs were at that moment in time. "Was there a way," Dr. Henry asked, "to read the body's inner wisdom and let it tell the chiropractor what that patient's body needed and wanted?" He turned to biofeedback for the answer.

His patented NDIS uses computerized biofeedback equipment to "read" the body's nutritional supplemental needs/wants. The system is simple, reproducible, and best of all, totally objective.

Here's how it works. The patient prepares for the test by discontinuing any nutritional supplements he or she is taking for a week. On the day of the test, the individual is 'wired' to the computer by taping a very sensitive thermometer in the axillary area. Once the temperature baselines (stabilizes), the patient begins by placing a nutritional supplement in his or her mouth for 90 seconds, then spits it out, rinses and spits, and waits for the temperature to stabilize again. This can be done with as few or as many nutrients as the clinician desires.

Meanwhile, the computer is actually graphing the body's response to each supplement via minute temperature changes. Essentially, the greater the temperature change, the more excited the body is about that supplement, and the more it needs it, wants it, and can utilize it. The testing procedure is totally objective in that the patient usually has no idea which supplement he or she is being tested for, and the doctor has no input (such as in muscle testing or testing acupoints). Not caring whether the temperature changes, the computer simply reads and graphs how the patient's body responds to each supplement.

I can see just two minor negatives with the NDIS.

First, it can be somewhat time‑consuming. Currently, in my office we test for approximately 65 different vitamins, herbs, minerals, phytochemicals, and glandulars, which takes between four and five hours. This seems a small price to pay for the information gained.

The second negative is that people have to place the supplements in their mouths, and some supplements (like fish oil), can taste rather unpleasant. However, if you offer me a taste of fish oil in the mouth or a needle in the arm, I'll take the fish oil any day.

Based on the computer readout, the doctor can a) choose an individualized nutritional program unique to that patient; and b) adapt the cost of the nutritional program for each patient.

For example, you may choose to recommend only the top five or six supplements that caused the greatest temperature change. You and the patient can decide how sensitive you want to be, and base your recommendations on that. Generally, retesting is recommended every six months.

Case files

# 3672 ‑‑ This patient, a 52 year‑old female was diagnosed with membranous glomerulopathy on 3/18/2003. She had suffered with headaches for many years and had taken a significant amount of Tylenol for her headaches. She took her NDIS exam on 5/12/2003, and based on that evaluation, began taking the following supplements: Ginkgo Biloba, Cytozyme PT/ HPT (Biotics), Bio‑Cyanidins (Biotics), Saw Palmetto, Cyruta (Standard Process), Soybean Lecithin, Cytozyme THY (Biotics), Skullcap, Parotid PMG (Standard Process), Fen Gre (Standard Process), and Cal Mag Plus (Biotics). The patient also received specific full spine chiropractic adjustments.

On two subsequent six‑month checkups, she has been told by the nephrologist that her kidneys are doing much better, that her glomerulopathy has stabilized and not advanced as expected.

# 340 ‑‑ This patient, a 47 year‑old male, complained of not being able to breathe through his nose at night for the last 15‑20 years. Shortly after going to bed each night, his nose would plug up and he would have to breathe through his mouth. He was also a bad snorer, and his wife suspected he had sleep apnea. In addition, he suffered from allergies and joint aches. He received regular chiropractic care, which helped, but didn't totally resolve the problems. He took the NDIS exam on 8/13/2003, and began taking the following supplements: Cytozyme THY (Bio), Antronex (SP), Fen Gre (SP), FeZyme (Bio), and Cytozyme Orchic (Bio).

Within a few days he reported that he could breathe through his nose all night long for the first time in nearly two decades. His wife stated that he still snored, but not nearly as bad, and the sleep apnea symptoms were much improved. He also reported improvement in his allergies and a decrease in his joint aches. Now, a year later, the patient reports he still can breathe through his nose all night long.

If you are looking to add a nutritional component to your chiropractic office, and are looking for a system that is scientific and objective, I would highly recommend the NDIS. I truly believe it to be the most objective and scientific method available to determine an individual's specific nutritional deficiencies.

For more information about the NDIS, contact Dr. James Henry at: Wellspring Technology, Inc., 3775‑B Professional Pkwy., Mobile, Ala.; by phone calling toll‑free 866‑375‑8804; or via e‑mail: Lhenry844@aol.com.

(Dr. Marvin Braun has been in practice in Gregory, South Dakota since his graduation from Northwestern in the spring of 1979. Although the major focus in his Wellness practice is subluxation elimination, Dr. Braun also believes that we live at a time when, and in a society where nearly everyone needs to supplement his or her diet. He is a proud member of the World Chiropractic Alliance and South Dakota's representative for the WCA Board of Governors.)