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This fall we saw one of the more memorable mineral levels we've ever seen in the practice. It was a selenium of almost 600 (in the blood). This is almost three times a "normal" level.
What was most surprising about the level wasn't the level itself, but the fact that the lab had been ordered by another provider, who had never explained to the patient that this was a potential problem.
There is no reason to push someone's serum selenium level up to almost 600. I've seen three extremely elevated selenium levels in my career. All three were in patients who were taking between 200 and 600 mcg of selenium per day, in a combination of multi-vitamins and selenium supplements.
There is no excuse for not communicating this kind of lab abnormality to a patient, and yet sadly I see more and more patients whose previous providers gloss over or completely miss important lab abnormalities. Everyone makes mistakes, but if you keep close enough track of your patients, you will eventually pick up everything that slips through the cracks.
This didn't happen for Anna (name changed). I was the first person to tell her that her selenium was sky-high, several months after it was drawn.
The cause of her high selenium level was obvious. She was taking over 400 mcg per day, combined, from multiple supplements.
Her original provider should have caught this. Instead, they sold her hundreds if not thousands of dollars in supplements that she saw no benefit from.
I find this troubling.
What's happening to the world of functional, integrative, holistic, and natural medicine?
It's being inundated with clinicians who either lack adequate training or don't have enough time to do a good job, and it's being coopted by clever opportunists who see that they can build profitable businesses by cutting corners and appealing to the worst in human nature.
Put another way, the fastest way to turn a profit in the healthcare industry is to exploit the worst elements of human nature shamelessly and ruthlessly.
How do you do this?
Sell people an initial visit.
Sell them hundreds or thousands of dollars in labs (sometimes bundled with a visit).
Sell them a short follow-up appointment, and during that appointment sell them hundreds or thousands of dollars of supplements.
Wash, rinse, repeat, and pour money into advertising to book your clinic solid.
Why is this so appealing?
The mind naturally tends to think that "more is better."
"I got more appointments, lab tests, and supplements from this clinic, so I'll go with them."
The funny thing is, people who get great results know that the secret isn't more - it's less. It's getting the right amount of something, not an excess of everything.
You have to adopt this mindset if you're going to achieve optimal health in a world full of people who are marketing to you based on this, "more is better," thinking.
They're exploiting a weakness in your nature.
Why can't we just mass-produce medical care in this fashion, because it leads to poor outcomes.
Why doesn't this approach work?
You're not all the same!
You don't all need the same labs!
You can get most, if not all, of your nutrition from food!
You can't treat lab abnormalities without context!
This is why at my practice, we focus on spending a lot of time with patients. We miss fewer things this way. We take better care of fewer people. We are able to respond more quickly to questions and concerns.
We have been inundated with requests for consultations recently. If you haven't heard back from us regarding a consult, please be patient, we are working on expanding our availability.
This is also why we offer coaching programs.
Why take a coaching program?
"The greatest medicine of all is teaching people how not to need it."
- Hippocrates
Our goal in our coaching programs is to coach you into being the fittest, healthiest person possible. Fitness and good health are not the absence of symptoms, they entail what we call "physiologic reserve" - the physical and bioenergetic reserves necessary to cope with insult and injury, and to bounce back from it.
This why we created The Fundamentals of Wellness Course + Coaching Program. The Fundamentals of Wellness addresses what 99% of functional, integrative, natural, and holistic medical practices are missing. We're now offering weekly coaching calls with Jim Laird as part of this program, and twice monthly calls with Jim and I together. Jim also offers a dedicated strength and conditioning call every month - that's 7 calls per month that run an hour or more. Sign up today.
If you're interested in learning more about minerals and how they work, we're also enrolling the second round of our Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis Course + Coaching this October. There are only 30 spots available, so sign up now.
Until next time, be well,
Dr. Stillman