Larissa Spafford | The Source Weekly - Bend, Oregon

Member since Jan 18, 2017

Contributions:

  • Posted by:
    Larissa Spafford on 01/26/2017 at 4:47 PM
    Re: “For Your Health
    Once again, NTPs do not diagnose disease. There is a difference between diagnosing a disease and considering (and using functional tests and gathering information to support) that a gland, organ, system, etc. may not be functioning optimally.

    With any gland or organ there can be a wide range of function that varies from individual to individual. At one end of the spectrum you can have optimal healthy function and on the other end you can have disease (where the Doctors come in to diagnose and treat). Anything less than optimal function is by definition dysfunction. (Straight from the dictionary the definition of dysfunction is "abnormality or impairment in the function of a specified bodily organ or system").

    I personally know what it feels like to experience less than optimal adrenal function. I was able to improve my adrenal function by applying what I learned at the NTA. I am very grateful there were simple dietary adjustments I could make that had such a huge impact on my quality of life.
  • Posted by:
    Larissa Spafford on 01/19/2017 at 1:56 PM
    Re: “For Your Health
    Here is an example of a situation where a person may not get the answers they need from a traditional doctor (my opinion is that they would be more likely to find answers from a Doctor that practices Integrative Medicine or Functional Medicine) and where working with an NTP could be beneficial. This of course is dependent on the individual Doctor and individual NTP. The ideal situation is for an persons NTP and Doctor to work together with the optimal health of the client/patient as their common goal.

    Adrenal gland dysfunction is common in our society. It can cause people to feel run down, exhausted, be susceptible to sickness, experience anxiety and depression, etc.
    When a person with adrenal dysfunction goes to their Doctor, the Doctor may run tests. If the person has severe adrenal dysfunction it could be classified and diagnosed as Addisons Disease and treatment would go from there. If a person has dysfunction that is not extreme enough to qualify as Addisons Disease, it might not be recognized by the Doctor. Sometimes the Doctor says it is psychosomatic and the person is prescribed antidepressants. Some people accept this. Others, seek other opinions. One other opinion is that of an NTP, who says, no, it is not all in your head. One possible root of the problem is that your blood sugar may be imbalanced, due to eating in an imbalanced way and that is causing your adrenal glands to need to contribute too much to keep your blood sugar stable. They are overworked and need a break. Here are some dietary recommendations to give them a break. If you would like to take a supplement for additional support, I can test you to see which particular supplement will work best for you.
  • Posted by:
    Larissa Spafford on 01/19/2017 at 10:55 AM
    Re: “For Your Health
    This comment is for the people who have chosen to spend their valuable time spewing negativity about something they seem to know little about....

    I hope you experience a long and happy life free from discomfort and dis-ease in your body. If one day you find yourself experiencing less and seek out medical help, I hope it cures you. If you find yourself (like so many do) with a condition that your doctor does not recognize and know how to treat, I hope that you will remember Nutritional Therapy exists. I hope you will open your mind and consider that just maybe, what you put into your body does in fact affect your health.

    Weather you like it or not, or believe it works, Nutritional Therapy is here to stay. NTPs are doing amazing things with our time and energy.
  • Posted by:
    Larissa Spafford on 01/18/2017 at 7:33 AM
    Re: “For Your Health
    It sounds like there is confusion and misinformation about what an NTP does and does not do. We do not treat or diagnose disease, which I clearly state on my website. What we do, is make dietary (and sometimes supplemental) recommendations based on very thorough information we gather from each client. In the first visit, I spend 2 hours with each client asking extensively about their health history, goals, obstacles to health, etc. I use a 324 question Nutritional Assessment Questionnaire, a computer program and a unique set of functional tests to gather more information. I can also use Lingual Neural testing to determine if a particular supplement or food will be beneficial to that particular client. It's personalized holistic nutrition tailored to the bio-individual needs of each client. There is no one size fits all diet. Nutritional Therapy helps each person find a way of eating that is right for them.

    By learning about our bodies and how to take care of ourselves we can prevent disease. If you look at the rates of diseases including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, autism, etc. they are on the rise at an alarming rate. This is horrifying to me and I want to be part of the solution. The way I see it, we can't afford to not learn to take better care of ourselves. What we are doing as a society is obviously not working.

    I found the NTP program to be an excellent program. The training is firmly based in the sciences of anatomy, physiology and nutrition. We were encouraged to think critically and for ourselves and encouraged to continue to learn and read the scientific studies for ourselves and draw our own conclusions.

    No_quacks is correct, certification as an NTP doesn't qualify one to be a licensed nutritionist or dietician. In the state of Oregon it is completely legal to practice with the certification of an NTP. I would never claim to be a licensed nutritionist or registered dietician. I am proud to be an NTP and make a point to tell people that it is very different from those professions.

    If anyone has further questions or concerns about Nutritional Therapy, feel free to contact me at [email protected]. I offer free 15 minute phone consultations for people to learn more and decide for themselves if Nutritional Therapy is right for them.