Articles/Resources
Articles & Resources
Mountain-River Naturopathic Clinic
Here, you will find research and articles that Dr. Justin Pollack, ND and Dr. Kim Nearpass, ND have written about general health, wellness and disease, nutrition, digestion, women's health, children's health, and men's health.
Optimizing Fertility
The decision to expand the family is a significant one. When the time is right, there are a wide range of benefits of properly preparing for conception. Preventative medicine can not only make fertility easier, but also decrease discomfort during pr…
Nutrition for Women
Optimal nutrition is important across the board. As diseases of nutritional deficiency, such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease, increase, we must all re-evaluate how we view food. It’s important to start your kids on a healthy, balanced nutriti…
Nutrition For New Parents
Welcome to your newest, and most exciting adventure… parenting!! We, at the Mountain-River Naturopathic Clinic, believe that you have a profound influence on the health of your child. This influence begins now. Food is your most powerful medicine, a…
Kids Become What They Eat
The old saying, “You are what you eat” holds true today, and the results are not so pretty. The American diet has evolved quickly over recent decades, from home-made meat and potato meals, to fast-food and processed meals. Our bodies have not evolve…
Hormones In The Adolescent Years
Adolescence is an exciting coming of age. It’s a time of independence, enlightenment and discovery. It’s also a time of turmoil. Few adults have fond memories of our own teen years. Teens are often highly self-conscious, confused and challenged. The…
Back To School: Healthy Kids Naturally
Today is a big day for kids, moms, dads and teachers across Summit County. It’s the first day of a new school year. School parking lots and playgrounds are buzzing with excitement. Cries of joy and nervousness fill the air.
But the new school year…
Brain Food
The brain has approximately 100 billion neurons, with an estimated 100 trillion connections. Until recently, it was believed that when you lost brain cells, they were gone forever. It has recently been discovered that stem cells, capable of turning…
Candida
Flora that live in the small intestine number in the billions, and most are not named. Diet is one of several factors that influence the bacterial population. “Good” digestive flora include Lactobacillus species (L. acidophilus) and Bifidobacteria…
Digestive Disorders
Gastrointestinal disorders are extremely common and can make normal life very challenging. Many people suffer from exceptional amounts of gas, bloating, cramping, constipation, diarrhea, heartburn, nausea or general discomfort. A holistic approach t…
Cold and Flu Prevention
(and treatment if necessary) Viruses cause cold and flu, in fact “Flu” is short for influenza virus. Over 200 different viruses can initiate a cold, including rhinoviruses, RSV, adenoviruses, and even coronaviruses. Viruses are fragile and die with…
Gluten Free Living
Gliadin is a protein within gluten, both of which are contained in wheat. Gluten is a large protein-carbohydrate mixture that gives dough its elasticity and makes baked goods light, fluffy and stick together. Unfortunately, it’s that same large size…
Heart Health
Your heart is generally no bigger than your own clenched fist, yet it is able to pump blood (5 times as thick & viscous as water) through arteries, capillary beds and veins that if laid end to end would circle the earth 2-3 times. On a given day…
Mood Food
“Your brain is the command and control center of your body. If you want a better body, the first place to ALWAYS start is by having a better brain.” ~Daniel Amen, MD 1
Specific nutrients have profound effects on our overall emotional well-being, in…
Genetically Modified Foods: Toxic to Your Health
Genetically modified organisms, or “GMO's”, may be one of the greatest assaults on health that we've seen. The first GM foods were introduced in 1992, with the claim that they would allow the food industry to produce more food, faster. Scientists ge…
Therapeutic Water Fasting
“Those who fast drink the wine of the spirit.” ~Rumi
Water only fasting is arguably the first medicine, dating back at least 50,000 years. Every major religion in the world includes fasting. By stepping out of the way, the body's self healing wisdo…
Altitude Sickness
Welcome to the high country! You came here to enjoy yourself, relax and get away, not contend with a pounding headache, shortness of breath, restless nights, or nausea. High altitude is defined as altitude over 5,000ft, and most of the mountain town…
Fertility Awareness
Whether a woman is trying to get pregnant or trying to avoid getting pregnant, having an awareness of her menstrual cycle is important. The average 28-day menstrual cycle is an elaborate physiologic orchestra of hormones. The ebb and flow of estroge…
The Diversity Of Menopause
My years of internship and practice working with female patients have taught an important lesson: no woman’s experience of menopause is the same.
The practice of medicine would be greatly simplified if every patient read the textbooks and followed…
Allergies & Sensitivities
Each year, more than 50 million Americans suffer from allergies, making them the 6th leading cause of chronic disease in the United States, and costing the health care system $18 billion annually. (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology)…
Stress And Adrenal Fatigue
Somewhere down in Denver there’s a 32 year old, single business woman who works 60-70 hours per week, in addition to her hour-long commute in traffic and smog. She stays up late finishing projects, drags herself out of bed in the morning and manages…
BioSET therapy for Allergies & Sensitivities
BioSET is a testing method, and a desensitization technique for sensitivities and allergies of all types. It has been found that the atomic particles that make up our cells are affected by information and energetic forms of healing many times more p…
What is REALLY in Your Supplement?
Supplemental vitamins, minerals and herbal products can help or hinder our health. They have the potential to bolster our immune system, shore up our energy stores, calm jangled nerves, lend cancer protection or prevent degenerative diseases. Unfort…
Sleep
Early on in school, we learn about the basic survival needs: food, shelter, oxygen water and sleep. Until recently however, little was understood about the functions of sleep and how it affects our physiology. We all know how miserable it feels when…
Thyroid
Dr. Justin Pollack, ND Most cells in the body have thyroid hormone receptors, and respond to thyroid hormones T3 and T4. When T3 and T4 levels are low, body temperature plummets, and general metabolism falls along with it. Many people are familiar…
PAP Screening: Cervical Cancer Prevention
As women, we are told to schedule yearly visits with our health care providers in order to complete our joyous Pap exam. Why is this dreaded exam so important? What are the advantages to maintaining this annual routine? In some developing countries…
Stress: The Mind-Body Connection
The old expression “worry your-self sick” is more appropriate now than ever. A 1988 study from the American Academy of Family Physicians reported that 75-90% of visits to family physicians were for stress-related complaints. My guess is that today…
Surgery Support Protocol
Individuals who follow this program typically heal much faster than normal, with less pain and swelling, and with fewer complications. Nutrients that promote healing of connective tissue include vitamins A, C, the B-complex, zinc and copper. Vitamin…
Diabetes II and Natural Blood Sugar Control
Unlike type I diabetes where insulin replacement can effectively treat the cause of the problem, the type II diabetic suffers a more complex problem of insulin resistance. In the early stages of the disease, the pancreas produces much more insulin t…