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. 

Spa Day at Healing Arts NYC Wellness Center

Spa Day

We want you to enjoy all that the new Wellness Center has to offer at Healing Arts so we put together a "Spa Day" where you will spend about 2-3 hours at the wellness center doing different therapeutic services to help detox, rejuvenate and relax. It also comes with one personalized hot tea blend and a personalized homeopathic tincture.  The tincture you will take daily for 2 weeks in order to continue the rejuvenation process after your spa day. You can pick 4 different services for $150 and save $59. We also have a la carte options to make your spa day exactly what you want it to be.  You can also choose all 5 services for an extra $20 at $170 for the day!

Choose 4 for $150:

1) Foot Bath - helps to pull toxins out of the body through the feet by putting ions in the water of which your feet are soaking in. These ions have a negative charge. The negative charge attracts the positively charged toxins in your body. The ions in the foot bath water hold a charge that enables them to bind to any heavy metals and toxins in your body, similar to how a magnet works. This allows the toxins to be pulled out through the bottoms of your feet.

2) Ozone Sauna - you sit in a sauna pod that covers you from the neck down and induces sweating using steam from distilled water.  This sweating opens up pores to allow the ozone gas to be absorbed by the skin. With the ozone gas the extra oxygen that goes in has such great anti-inflammatory and immune boosting effects.  Ozone sauna therapy is believed to be a powerful treatment which may be comparable to IV ozone administrations just without the needle.  Ozone therapy breaks up lactic acid, increases cellular respiration in muscles, speeds up recovery of damaged tissue and accelerates growth of muscle for those who have tight, sore muscles. Ozone sauna is great for after surgery or an injury. Ozone therapy improves blood circulation, improves vitamin and mineral absorption, fights inflammation, and is wonderful at killing mold, parasites, candida, viruses and bacteria.

3) Salt Booth - Our unique S.A.L.T. Booth® is an enclosed dry salt therapy unit to give you privacy during your salt therapy experience. With the salt booth, unlike the salt room, the concentration of salt particles can be adjusted to offer a more individualized and targeted salt therapy session. Because the concentration of salt is higher in the booth than a salt room sessions only take 10 minutes.

4) PEMF - an acronym for Pulsed Electro-Magnetic Field. PEMF therapy consists of a mat which emits pulses of energy waves. This energy courses through the body directly to inflamed or injured areas. The energy is also drawn to areas experiencing chronic pain. The energy waves of the PEMF mat passes through the organs and tissues and into the cells of your body, amplifying the cellular energy. The increase in energy promotes a natural reaction that regenerates and enhances the efficiency of the cell’s function. This natural process stimulates healing and helps to improve your overall well-being including cellular rejuvenation.

5) Chakra Light Therapy - Lay down and relax under seven Vogel-cut quartz crystals lit up by very specific light frequencies. Receive the frequencies produced by the UV laser and magnetic energy from the coil in the holder cancel each other out once they interact, this is how scalar energy is generated. It is then focused through the Vogel-cut crystals and into your chakras. Open and balanced chakras can allow you to heal faster and also give you higher levels of peace, focus, awareness and ability to relax and sleep better.

Do all 5 services for an extra $20. $170 for the day.

Included in each Spa Day:

Infoceuticals: Personalized Homeopathic Tincture to take for 4 weeks

Tea Bar: Personalized cup of tea made from 3 different herbs.  

A La Carte

add an hour Massage for $120

add 30 min. Lymphatic drainage therapy $70

add Nutrition Response Testing $80

add Initial Nutrition Response Testing $140

add Chiropractic $80

Healing Arts Special 

If the "Spa Day" seems like too much time or too many services we also have the Healing Arts Special where if you get a massage OR lymphatic therapy AND Nutrition Response Testing on the same day we will mail you a coupon for one free service of your choice: PEMF, Salt Booth or Chakra Light Therapy.

It is important to Dr. Armitstead that you truly get the health benefits of all that the new Wellness Center has to offer.   

Learn Where MSG is Hidden

MSG has been used as an acronym for "monosodium glutamate" for years. MSG is a flavor enhancer and popular ingredient in many Asian cuisines. It is common enough knowledge that people can get MSG reactions that Chinese restaurants were advertising MSG-free on their food starting in the mid 1990s.  MSG reactions can include flushing, sweating, chest pain and weakness.   The most common symptom I see in my office are headaches or migraines.  Other symptoms include facial pressure, drowsiness, and numbness and tingling in the face, back, and arms.

MSG is a neurotoxin that is best to stay away from even if you don't notice any symptoms.  Actually we know it as MSG but it's more factual name is Manufactured free Glutamate or MfG.  Since it is common knowledge that we should not ingest MSG the food industry as come up with other names, 40 more names to be exact.  

One popular place where it can be found is in low fat or nonfat milk products and may diary products that contain carrageenan, guar gum and locust bean gum.  Protein powders contain glutamic acid, which , invariably will be manufactured with MfG.  Also if you see the word 'protein' by itself on any label it contains MfG.   Also hydrolyzed soy protein, hydrolyzed wheat protein, hydrolyzed pea protein, hydrolyzed whey protein, hydrolyzed corn protein and tomato protein all contain MfG.

In sensitive patients reactions have been reported from soaps, shampoos, hair conditioners and cosmetics where MfG is hidden in ingredients with names that include the words "hydrolyzed," "amino acids," and or "protein".  Most sun block, spf lotion and insect repellents also contain MfG.  

According to the manufacturer, Varivax-Merk chicken pox vaccine contains L-monosodium glutamate and hydrolyzed gelatin, both of which contain MfG.  The vaccine has been shown to cause brain lesion ni laboratory animals and cause obesity and reproductive disorders later in life.  It would appear that most, if not all, live virus vaccines contain some ingredient that contains MfG.

Some people have reactions to MfG even if it's a small dose and others need a large dose to feel MfG toxicity.  A reaction can occur immediately after ingestion or up to 48 hours.  The time lapse between ingestion and reaction is typically the same each time for a particular individual who ingest an amount of MfG that exceeds his or her individual tolerance level.  

All of the following contain MfG:

Names of ingredients that always contain MfG:

Glutamic acid (E 620) 
Glutamate (E 620)
Monosodium glutamate (E 621)
Monopotassium glutamate (E 622)
Calcium glutamate (E 623)
Monoammonium glutamate (E 624)
Magnesium glutamate (E 625)
Natrium glutamate
Anything “hydrolyzed”
Any “hydrolyzed protein”
Calcium caseinate, Sodium caseinate
Yeast extract, Torula yeast
Yeast food, Yeast nutrient 
Autolyzed yeast
Gelatin
Textured protein
Whey protein
Whey protein concentrate
Whey protein isolate
Soy protein 
Soy protein concentrate
Soy protein isolate
Anything “protein”
Anything “protein fortified”
Soy sauce
Soy sauce extract
Protease
Anything “enzyme modified”
Anything containing “enzymes”
Anything “fermented”
Vetsin
Ajinomoto
Umami
Zinc proteninate

Names of ingredients that often contain or produce MfG during processing:

Carrageenan (E 407)
Bouillon and broth
Stock
Any “flavors” or “flavoring”
Natural flavor
Maltodextrin
Oligodextrin
Citric acid, Citrate (E 330)
Anything “ultra-pasteurized”
Barley malt
Malted barley
Brewer’s yeast
Pectin (E 440)
Malt extract
Seasonings

*1 Glutamic acid found in unadulterated protein does not cause adverse reactions. To cause adverse reactions, the glutamic acid must have been processed /manufactured or come from protein that has been fermented.

*2 E numbers are use in Europe in place of food additive names.

The following are ingredients suspected of containing or creating sufficient processed free glutamic acid to serve as MfG-reaction triggers in HIGHLY SENSITIVE people:

Corn starch  
Corn syrup  
Modified food starch 
Lipolyzed butter fat  
Dextrose
Rice syrup
Brown rice syrup  
Milk powder 
Reduced fat milk (skim; 1%; 2%) 
most things “low fat” or “no fat”  
anything “enriched”
anything “vitamin enriched” 
anything “pasteurized”
Annatto
Balsamic vinegar
certain amino acid chelates (Citrate, aspartate, and glutamate are used as chelating agents with mineral supplements.)

Food Sensitivities Vs. Allergies Vs. Intolerances By Ingrid Young

I love food!  Food is delicious, nourishing, and healing. Our bodies are made to seamlessly absorb nutrients from the food we eat so that we can perform our daily activities with ease. But what happens when the food we eat no longer fuels and heals and starts to hinder our health?  There are a few reasons why this happens.  One of the simplest reasons could be a food intolerance or sensitivity.   Food intolerance, sensitivities and allergies are based off the reaction the body has when it comes in contact with food.  

Food intolerance is when our body does not have the digestive enzymes to break down foods we eat. A common example of food intolerance is lactose intolerant. This is when the body cannot fully breakdown the sugar “lactose” in milk. Symptoms of food intolerance are bloating, gas, nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain, heartburn, and/or irritability.  You can experience these symptoms immediately or over a course of a few days.  Food intolerances commonly run in families.    

Food sensitivities activate an immune reaction. White blood cells react to food and chemicals and release pro-inflammatory "mediators" into the bloodstream. This immune reaction is non-threatening, and symptoms are similar to food intolerances.  Symptoms include bloating, diarrhea, nausea, migraines, acne, eczema, joint pain, runny nose, brain fog, mood swings and can be felt between 3-72 hours. Most commonly, food sensitivity reactions are often delayed, and most people go on without realizing their symptoms are due to what they ate. 

Food allergies elicit an immune response that is histamine-driven and is mediated by IgE. Reactions are immediate, within 15-30 minutes after exposure. Symptoms can be asthma, wheezing, hives, rashes, dizziness, swelling of lips, face, or in the body.  Unlike food sensitivities, food allergies can be life-threatening and in severe cases result in anaphylactic shock.  Common food allergies are nuts/ seeds, shellfish, wheat, soy, and certain fruits and vegetables. So the next question is how do you know if you’re experiencing a food intolerance or sensitivity?  Elimination diets such as the Whole30 can help identify food intolerances and sensitivities reactions.  In the office we use muscle testing to identify specific food that can be hindering your health.  I like muscle testing because it is quick and noninvasive.  I also like doing the Coca pulse test because it can be done at the comfort of your own home.  

Coca Pulse Test 

Before taking the test, make sure you’re in a relaxed and calm state. An agitated state, in which your pulse is abnormally raised, will make it difficult to perform this test with accuracy.  The test is best done on an empty stomach, at least 2 hours after eating or drinking anything, or preferably, first thing in the morning before breakfast. 1.   Get your base heart rate. I like to do this first thing in the morning.  Take your pulse before you get out of bed for one full minute.  Record that number. 2.   When you’re ready to test the food, take a bite of food. Chew it if you like, but don’t swallow it. Let it rest in your mouth so that you can taste it for thirty seconds. 3.   With the food still in your mouth, take and record your pulse for a full minute again. 4.   Spit out the food and rinse out your mouth with water. Make sure to spit the water out. Wait 1-2 minutes before trying another food, or until your pulse has returned to its base rate. If your pulse increases or decreases by 6 points over a minute with a particular food in your food, this is your body indicating a stressful reaction to the food.  If your pulse remains steady, this indication no reaction to the food and its safe.  

To learn more about functional nutrition, come join my Navigating Nutrition a 5-week online nutrition course and support group. We’ll discuss topics such as how to improve digestion, emotional eating, how to regulate blood sugar levels, and the importance of staying hydrated. Together we will create personal and practical ways to improve your health through nutrition.  

Classes start online October 6th at 6pm-7pm.  To learn more: https://healingartsnyc.com/new-events 

What people are saying… 

"Loved the class! It was intimate so you could ask all of your questions. It was informative with additional links, book recommendations and insightful learnings. It was practical with valuable tips on how to eat better (Ingrid gave us feedback after reading our food journal). It was doable since only 5 online classes of approximately an hour, hour and a half each, in the comfort of your home, after work. Ingrid is sweet, cheery, knowledgeable, patient and receptive. I can’t wait to hear about her next class!"  - D.R. 

To reserve your spot email us at info@healingartsnyc.com 

Class Schedule: 

October 6th - Week 1 - Blood sugar / Emotional eating  

October 13th - Week 2 - How to Grocery Shop/ Reading labels/ Meal Plans  

October 20th - Week 3 -  Macronutrients/Portion/ Explanation of different diets 

October 27th - Week 4 -  Hydration / Sleep + Stress + Exercise   

November 3 - Week 5 - Digestion / What's going on and how to improve it ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

$60 a class or $215 for all 5 weeks 

Won’t be able to make all 5 classes? Don’t worry, we can give you the recording of it. 

Option for extra 1-1 sessions with Ingrid Young to further personalize your nutrition, supplements, exercise, sleep and lifestyle plan.

Healing is About Loving Yourself

Healing is About Loving Yourself

We make hundreds of choices a day.  To what time we wake up, to what we wear, to what we eat etc.  Every time you put something in your mouth is a choice.  So choose love.  The loving choice for food would be something nutritious that would give the body the fuel it needed to get through to the next meal.  Respecting the body is love.  Love is not indulging in your second cup of coffee knowing that it will give you heart burn.  

When people know what the healthy choice is and they aren’t making it it’s because there is a lack of self-love.  It takes love to make the ‘right’ choice.  But what is right for you may be wrong for someone else.  You know your choice is right for you when it comes from love.  When you are at peace with your choice and you can stand in your own power about it without any self-judgement.  Right is only a perspective and don’t let anyone change your perspective if you truly know what is right for you.  

We help patients make the right choice for them.  The first step is to identify what the healthy choice is for them by muscle testing their body.  With this biofeedback from the body we know what their body sees as toxins and help the patient avoid them as much as possible while they heal.  A healthy body would not hold onto toxins.  A healthy body can detox and eliminate toxins easily.  The goal is to support your body with the right nutrition so that it can do that.  

We are aware that to even make an appointment and commit to a nutrition program in our office takes a good amount of self-love.  To follow the program in any capacity one has to confront old habits and want to change them and that takes a lot of will power and we applaud our patients for it and support them in many ways to help them on their journey.  But it is their journey.  Our goal is to meet them where they are and help them be able to confront their choices to make better ones as their body heals.  Helping patients create more self-love is our recipe for success in the office.  This allows them to take their health into their own hands and create a healthy lifestyle for life.  This is what we want for each and every one of you.  

Nourishing the Thyroid
By guest blogger, Raquel Reis

Have you ever wondered why you have low energy even after a full night of sleep and countless cups of coffee or why when you exercise and monitor everything you eat you can't lose weight? Perhaps you've been given antidepressants but deep down inside you know that's not the solution.

It might have to do with your thyroid, the gland that governs our metabolism. If it is your thyroid you would not be alone for about 20 million people in the U.S. have some form of thyroid disease. If you have already been diagnosed with a thyroid condition and are doing everything your doctor and the Internet are telling you but you are still not feeling well don't get discouraged, we are here to help.

What is the solution?

The thyroid is one of the most important, and often mismanaged, glands we have working in our body. This butterfly-shaped gland located bellow the center of our neck secretes hormones that control some major functions including weight management, how we use energy, how we metabolize food, and even how we sleep. For women, hormones can shift out of balance during childbearing and menopause, and even under chronic stress, putting them at a higher risk
for thyroid conditions than men.

The thyroid gland needs specific vitamins and minerals to properly do its job. Since we are all unique in how our hormones are functioning, the best way to get a handle on what our body specifically needs is to come to the office for your personalized Nutrition Response Testing to identify your specific needs and imbalances.

There are many ways to support thyroid health easily and naturally, utilizing food and nutrients to encourage proper functioning. The way we eat can actually help, or hurt, our thyroid gland. With the right information, we can make simple choices to improve thyroid health. Here's how:

Know the possible contributors to thyroid disease:

Pesticides
Artificial sweeteners
Low fat, No fat diets (or diets high in the wrong fats)
Iodine Deficiency
Highly refined, processed and packaged foods
Mercury toxicity
Food allergies
Gluten
Sugar
Goitrogenic foods (broccoli, cabbage, kale, collard greens, mustard greens, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, radishes, kohlrabi, turnips, daikon, and rutabaga - DO NOT eat these foods raw. Other Goitrogenic foods to avoid include raw almonds, millet, canola, pine nuts, peanuts and cassava.
Fluoride
Soy and soy containing foods

The nutrients our thyroid needs are easily accessible in many foods and dietary supplements.
Look for foods and supplements that contain:

Iodine
Sea vegetables: Kelp, nori, kombu, dulse, arame, wakame, hijiki
Seafood: Haddock, clams, salmon, shrimp, oysters, sardines
Iodized Sean salt

Secondary sources: Eggs, spinach, garlic, asparagus, Swiss chard, mushrooms, summer squash, sesame seeds, lima beans

Selenium
Tuna, mushrooms, beef, sunflower seeds, Brazil nuts, organ meats, halibut

Zinc
Beef, turkey, lamb, fresh oysters, sardines, walnuts, sunflower seeds, Brazil nuts, pecans, split peas, ginger root, whole grains

Copper
Crabmeat, oysters, lobster, beef, sunflower seeds, beans (white beans, chickpeas, soybeans), shitake mushrooms, pearled barley, tomato paste, dark chocolate

Iron
Organ meats, oysters, clams, spinach, lentils, white beans, pumpkin seeds, blackstrap molasses

Vitamin A (beta-carotene)
Asparagus, lettuce, kale, carrots, spinach, sweet potatoes, liver, winter squash/pumpkin, cantaloupe

Vitamin C
Parsley, peppers (chili, Bell, sweet), strawberries, guava, papaya, citrus, kiwifruit

Vitamin E
Sunflower seeds, beans, asparagus, vegetables, whole grains, liver

Vitamin B
Egg yolks, organ meats, wild rice, wheat germ, mushrooms, poultry (white meat), liver, fish (tuna, trout, salmon), brown rice, sunflower seeds, walnuts, beans (navy beans, garbanzos, pinto beans, lima beans).

Best Water When No Alternative

A lot of my patients get muscle tested for plastic toxicity in my office. As they are making the transition out of plastic water bottles they ask me when they are out for the day and stuck having to buy water in plastic, for many stores don't carry it in glass, what water is best to buy? After thoroughly muscle testing and finding what bottled water test best, here are the results in order, #1 being the best:

1) Mountain Valley

2) Volvic

3) Evian