Patient Spotlight

 Patient Spotlight

It was generous to have one of my patients take the time to write out her healing journey with us.  I found it so inspirational that I wanted to share it!

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Before: 213 pounds - Age 55                       After-148 pounds - Age 58

My 3 Year Transformational Story with Healing Arts & Nutrition Response Testing

Dr. Armitstead and Nutrition Response Testing has completely transformed and restored my health and my body. After years of energetic, spiritual, emotional healing, I knew it was time to heal the body that had housed so much trauma, pain, fear and grief in its cellular memory manifesting as disease and an aged body. Healing Arts has been my passage back to physical renewal and the embodiment of health - where I am finally balanced in mind, spirit and now body. 

I have been a dedicated client to this healing work for almost 3 years, abiding every appointment, every supplement, every nutritional dictate from my body’s own wisdom brought through the intuitive and skillful knowledge of Dr. Armitstead and Nova and Nutrition Response Testing. In these past three years I/we have healed (unspecified) Autoimmune Disease, Crohn's Disease, Chronic Inflammation, Chronic Migraines, Thyroid Nodules/Disease, Nervous System Disorders, Spinal Disease, Digestive Disorders, Chronic Constipation, Joint Pain, Obesity, Menopausal/Post-menopausal symptoms such as vagina dryness and thinning vaginal walls, thinning hair and sexual apathy, painful intercourse and pelvic floor dysfunction.

I have gained a body, organs, blood, heart, hormonal system, nervous system, joints, muscles, sexual organs, hair and skin that radiates the internal well being I have spent years manifesting. I have gained balance and wholeness and a belief in the wisdom of my own body’s genius. I have gained clarity, confidence, energy, wisdom, agelessness, renewed sexuality, and a love of and connection with my body that I had been dissociated with, ashamed of, and felt disdain for. I have gained a dedicated yoga practice and a love of exercising, strength training and recovery methods to care for my body because I love it, not because ‘I have to..’

When I began working with Healing Arts, It was my last hope, I had all but given up - almost buying into the belief that ‘this is just the way it is at age 50+ In post menopause...’. I had all of this light and beauty within me that I feared may be trapped forever beneath a body that had stored so much life: pain, grief, sorrow, limited beliefs, and society’s dictates of what it is to be a woman of a certain age, crying urgently to be healed. Despite having the skills to heal myself energetically/emotionally/spiritually, I didn’t know how to heal my body on my own, and the medical community only offered toxic medications and risky surgeries. I knew I needed help, and Healing Arts was the answer to my soul's calling.  

Healing Arts and Nutrition Response Testing is a journey, not a quick fix - it takes dedication, faith, consistency and an unwavering ethic to what your body is asking of you. It demands an interactive approach with self and with the practitioner to take part in and responsibility for your healing. It is so worth the investment (which may at times seem ‘expensive’ but has saved me literally thousands of dollars in medical bills and medications). It is so worth the time, the supplements and the difficult releasing of some of the most addictive foods and substances we ingest in our bodies. It’s a way of life that is so worthy. It is the best gift I have ever given myself - I have lost 65 pounds, lost a dependence on medical doctors, lost a dependence on unhealthy foods and substances, lost low self-esteem and inhibitions and a fear of death and disease and gained so much joy, well-being, fearlessness, hope and possibility, healthy sexual functioning and a love of healthy and nutritious foods and cooking, and most importantly such gratitude and love for my body, it’s wisdom and my health. 

I am so grateful for Healing Arts and Dr. Armitstead for helping lead me back to my body and it’s wholeness. 

Thank you. 

The COVID Vaccines

The COVID vaccines are a hot topic that I am now ready to address because I know many of you have loads of questions that I have been answering with my limited knowledge but now am ready to answer.  I am glad the vaccines are out for I really think they’re our only way through this pandemic but with the new technology I was really hesitant to see what it would look like in the body.  Now after muscle testing about 75 patients with either one or two vaccines I can definitely tell you I am not as nervous about it for what I am seeing is the same as what I have seen in the past when helping patients detox the heavy metals and chemicals that come with other vaccines.  I have had a lot of experience when helping detox infants, children and adults from other vaccine fillers and was worried that the COVID vaccines would be different and too complicated to help my patients with.  I know it’s still early for we don’t know what the COVID vaccines will do to the body in a year, 5 years, 10 years etc. and this is why we have to respect everyone's vaccine choice but so far I’m happy with what I see. About 12% of my patients are having a reaction to either the first or second vaccines.  A reaction is anything more than a sore arm and tired the night of the vaccine. 

A reaction can include feeling sick with a sore throat, fever, joint pain, numbing toes, legs, or

fingers, back pain or dizziness which can last anywhere from 1-5 day. No one has had to go to

the hospital to seek help from the vaccine reaction.  

I have seen only 5 Johnson and Johnson vaccines in my patients of which 2 have had

a reaction.  The rest are an even mix of Pfizer and Moderna which despite all the research,

I have seen an equal amount of reactions and do not have a preference on which shot is

better.  12% is a small percentage of patients having a reaction so as I see more patients

with the vaccine in them the number may change a little and go anywhere from 9%-15%

but I do expect it to stay lower than average and that is because after the first shot

I muscle test to see what is needed to help the liver, lymphatic system or kidneys detox

the heavy chemicals or heavy metals.  

Helping patients detox from the vaccine doesn't mean taking supplements only.

Some people need other support as well including lymphatic drainage therapy,

castor oil packs, ozone sauna, foot detox bath or salt booth depending on their symptoms.

With my experience so far, it takes about 3 weeks per shot to detox which is great because

with the Pfizer or Moderna they recommend getting the second shot 4 weeks after the first

shot which gives the body enough time to detox the first shot.  It’s best to get muscle tested

within the first 4 days of getting the shot.  Even best is to get muscle tested the day of to

see exactly what supplements your body needs.  It’s absolutely fine to get tested a week or

two after as well.  As long as you get tested between the shots, this will help you detox

before the second shot so that it goes well. 

If you are a patient of mine and have already gotten the J&J or both of the other shots know

that I can still help you detox the fillers from the vaccine(s) which I feel is important just

because we don’t know the after affect of the vaccine.   

I know many of my patients’ family and friends don’t live in NYC and yet want help detoxing

the vaccine so I decided to put together a vaccine detox bundle.  The majority of my patients

are testing for homeopathic supplements from HVS, called Metals and another one called

Chemicals.  One bottle is taken per shot so the bundle comes with 2 Metals and

2 Chemicals.  One cap of each is taken per day and added to water.  They can be taken together at

any time of day.  Take the bottles until done.  To buy the vaccine detox bundle, click here.

For the Health of It: Bounce!

The Health Benefits of Rebounding

Rebounding is a form of exercise that has been scientifically proven to improve the immune system and flow of the lymphatic system.  Rebounding involves jumping on a mini trampoline; this increases both blood and lymph circulation. The body contains 5-6 quarts of blood, which is circulated by the heart. There is three times more lymph in the body than blood and it does not have a pump like blood does.  We have to depend on our muscles to contract in order to move the lymph.  Yet there is so much of it that if a person’s lymphatic system were to stop functioning loss of fluid volume and swelling tissue would cause death within 24 hours. That is how important circulation of both blood and lymph is for the body.  Blood carries protein, oxygen, nutrients to the organs.  Once inside the organs it exchanges it's nutrients and carries wastes and carbon dioxide away.  Lymph is the leftover blood that leaks from blood capillaries into the tissue that the lymphatic vessels pick up.  Lymph fluid contains water, proteins, salts, lipids, and white blood cells that must return to the blood.  It also filters toxins like pathogens, damaged cells, cellular debris and cancerous cells in lymph nodes on it’s way to the chest where it is connected to a blood vessel and gets dumped back into the blood supply.  

I love how Dr. Samuel West puts it, ’Toxins are carried through the body by blood. These toxins include impurities of what we eat, inhale and ingest.  This causes an increase in blood protein and water to leak out of the capillaries into the interstitial space around the cells causing swelling (edema).  The swelling prevents oxygen from getting into the cells, causing cellular stress which can lead to various forms of diseases.’  Dr. Samuel west was  One of the first doctors in U.S. to talk about the importance of the lymphatic system in the healing process of disease and injuries. He believed that the #1 cause of diseases and pain are a lack of oxygen due to a congested lymphatic system.  Rebounding gets circulation moving.  All  forms of exercise work on the principle of opposing gravity, rebounding utilizes the forces of gravity, as well as the forces of acceleration and deceleration.  When you land on a rebounder, every cell in the body has to adjust to the increased deceleration. When the springs take over and push the body up into the air, then the body has to adjust to a weightless condition for only a moment at a time. But that weightless condition is throughout the entire body regardless of where the cells are.  Having the body adjust to an environment that it is not used to, which is deceleration at the bottom of the bounce promotes the flow of lymph, thereby helping the body flush out toxins and strengthening the immune system and making it more effective.

The way the lymphatic system works is the lymphocytes, the white blood cells, are moved through the body via one-way valves. You’ve got these valves from the bottom of the feet upwards throughout the entire body – and the valves from the legs all point upwards, from your neck they go down, from the arms they go towards the chest. So when you move the body around, the lymph fluid is always moving in one direction, that is towards the collarbones.

It’s here, at the top of the chest, the lymph valves allow the lymph fluid to flow into the bloodstream.  By activating the one-way valves  of the lymphatic system, you cause an increase in lymph circulation by 10-30 times of what the lymphatic system is able to circulate during periods of rest, lymph flow is sluggish and almost zero.  So when you bounce on a rebounder, or jump on the floor, or use a jump rope, the one-way valves open and close about 100 times a minute, circulating the lymph fluid, removing toxins and getting the white blood cells to areas of the body where they need to be.

Without adequate movement the lymph does not move and the lymph vessels can’t even pick up the lymph from the tissue.  This means the cells are left stewing in their own waste products and starving for nutrients and oxygen, a situation that contributes to arthritis, cancer and other degenerative diseases.  

Rebounding is great for the lymph system because the lymph vessels move the lymph in one direction, towards the heart that makes the  vertical up-and-down movement of rebounding more effective than horizontal motion workouts, such as jogging and running.  It’s nice for the joints in general too because the rebounder gets rid of the pressure the joints take when hitting the pavement.  

Poor lymph flow is common in sedentary people; this is one reason why less active individuals are more susceptible to illness. Sedentary people who have poor diets or choose to live on junk food are often unwell because the body sends all the toxins and waste to the lymphatic system. The lymph flow is poor due to a lack of exercise, so toxins accumulate in the body.

Additional benefits of rebounding include:

• Increased lymphocyte activity 

• Physically strengthens muscles

• Helps improve balance

• Improves cardiovascular function

Linda Brooks says gently bouncing on a rebounder for two minutes every hour is an ideal protocol for fighting against cancer. Within just two minutes the entire lymphatic system is flushed, creating a demand for more lymphocytes, including killer T-cells. The white blood-cell count is approximately tripled during this two-minute rebounding session.

Approximately one hour after rebounding, the white blood-cell count returns to normal, so it is time to rebound again to flush out the lymphatic system and to create another army of defensive cells. The object of this pattern is to keep the immune system operating optimally and naturally, hour after hour, day after day.

Rebounding exercise also strengthens each cell of the body so that healing can occur. Every process of every cell is enhanced allowing each organ to do its job more efficiently: digestion and absorption are enhanced; elimination is improved, thus removing more toxins from the body; and the body is relaxed and de-stressed so healing hormones are produced.

She explains that practice of rebounding against cancer is done using the “health bounce”.  Here is an explanation of the health bounce along with other rebounding exercises you can do.  

The Health Bounce

The health bounce is where the feet never leave trampoline. This still has positive effect. You’re getting all the one-way valves to open and close at the same time, increasing the activity of the lymphatic system throughout the entire body. 

The Basic Bounce

This can be done instead of the Strength Bounce below until you develop more balance.

1 Stand on the rebounder with your feet shoulder width apart.

2 Relax shoulders and arms and keep arms slightly bent at the elbow.

3 Gently bounce up and down while keeping your knees slightly bent. Your feet should never leave the trampoline surface more than a few inches.

The Strength Bounce

1 Stand on the rebounder with your feet shoulder width apart.

2 Relax shoulders and arms and keep arms slightly bent at the elbow.

3 Gently bounce up and down while keeping your knees slightly bent. Your feet should leave the trampoline surface approximately 8-12 inches.

High Knees

This is a terrific exercise that gets your heart rate up while working the muscles of your core.

1 Stand on trampoline surface with your feet hip distance apart.

2 Raise your right knee, lower it, then raise your left knee and lower it.

3 Once you feel able, begin doing the knee raises as if you are running in place.

4 Variation: Sprints – go as fast as you can in short bursts.

Butt Kickers

1 Stand on trampoline surface with your feet hip distance apart.

2 Begin jogging in place.

3 When your knee goes up, kick yourself in the tush with your heel.

Jumping Jacks

This will increase your heart rate while working both the inner and outer thighs.

1 Stand on the rebounder with your feet together

2 Jump up off the trampoline surface a few inches while extending arms out, up and overhead

3 Return to the starting position and repeat.

Twisting Jumps

1 Stand on the rebounder with your feet together

2 Jump up off the trampoline surface a few inches while twisting your body to the left.

3 On your next jump, twist your body to the right.

One Leg Jumps

1 Stand on the rebounder with your feet shoulder width apart

2 Begin jumping on one leg for 3-10 bounces.

3 Switch legs and jump on the other leg for 3-10 bounces.

4 Variation: kick out the leg you are not jumping on.

5 Variation: alternate legs every bounce, kicking out non-jumping leg.

Sample Beginner Routine

These are perfect rebounder workouts for beginners.

1 Health bounce for two minutes while breathing deeply.

2 Strength bounce for 3 minutes (do the basic bounce if you don't have enough balance for the strength bounce).

3 Health bounce for an additional 2-3 minutes while breathing deeply.

4 Repeat three times daily.

Sample Advanced Routine

1 Health bounce for 2 minutes while breathing deeply.

2 Strength bounce for 3 minutes.

3 High knees alternating with butt kickers for 3 minutes.

4 10-15 second sprint.

5 Jumping jacks for 3 minutes.

6 Twisting jumps for 2 minutes.

7 10-15 second sprint.

8 Strength bounce for 1 minute.

9 Health bounce (cool down) for 2 minutes.

For stability, most retailers of rebounders sell an optional handlebar to attach to the rebounder to help with balance. For balance you can also place the rebounder beside a wall or in a doorway and using the door frame or wall to help keep you balanced while performing rebound exercise.

I have seen improvement with my patients doing as little as 5 minutes a day of rebounding.  

Lectin-Free Diet

To Reduce Inflammation, Try This!

Lectins are microscopic proteins that plants evolved to defend themselves from predators, including insects and animals (that includes humans!). They are essentially indigestible and have the unique ability to increase the permeability of your intestines which eventually can cause a leaky gut or more intense situations.

That means that lectins and other small particles of food can pass through the wall of your gut, and will be treated as foreign invaders by your immune system. This causes an inflammatory response, which can set the stage for a host of diseases, as well as weight gain. 

Dr. Steven Gundry popularized the lectin-free diet. He is a former heart surgeon who switched his focus to food and supplement-based medicine. Dr. Gundry describes lectins as the main danger found in the American diet. In response, he has written a book that provides information on how to avoid lectins, alternative food choices, and recipes, The Plant Paradox. 

According to the book when lectins are harmful, leaking through the gut and causing inflammation, the auto- immune diseases that can be created are celiac disease, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, cancer, and depression.
Following a lectin-free diet could be a way to lower inflammation in the body. The best way to know if avoiding lectins would make a difference in your health is to get muscle tested to see how your body responds to lectins.  

According to Dr. Gundry, people should limit the following foods when trying to avoid lectins:
    •    legumes, such as beans, peas, soy, lentils, and peanuts
    •    squash
    •    nightshade vegetables, such as eggplant, peppers, potatoes, and tomatoes
    •    fruit, although in-season fruit is allowed in moderation
    •    all grains
    •    corn
    •    meat from corn-fed animals
    •    A1 milk


Soaking beans overnight in water and some baking soda, then draining them and thoroughly boiling or pressure cooking them, can eradicate nearly all lectins. In fact, pressure cooking vegetables and legumes is also an excellent way to decrease lectin content in those plant foods.  But, using a pressure cooker doesn’t get rid of all lectins – it won’t even touch the lectins in wheat, oats, rye, barley, or spelt.
Likewise, sprouting grains, seeds, and beans releases enzymes that reduce lectins, and the process of fermentation can cut the lectins in dairy and vegetables.
Peel and Deseed your fruits and veggies – If you’re going to use lectin-rich plant foods, make sure to peel and deseed them. Often, the most harmful part of a plant is it’s lectin-filled hull, peel, or rind. To reiterate, the peels and the seeds are often where lectins are hiding, so you can significantly cut down on your intake by eliminating that part of the plant.
Finally, if in fact you must eat grains, opt for white over brown. So, instead of brown rice, eat white rice. Instead of whole wheat bread, find a healthier version of white bread.
Turns out, though many believe brown rice is healthier than it’s white counterpart, those who eat rice as their staple grain have always stripped the hull off of brown rice before they eat it. That’s because the hull contains all the dangerous lectins.

A lectin-free diet is not easy to follow but the science is there to back up why lectins would cause inflammation in the body and lead to certain diseases.  If you think it may help you and you can’t get muscle tested then try not eating lectins for 2 weeks and then add them back in and if you notice a difference then maybe avoiding lectins is the best thing you can do for your body.