"Is Food Making You Sick?"

by Anna Schafer, MS, RD, LD/N

Many people suffer from a wide range of common illnesses such as migraines, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), fibromyalgia and weight imbalances just to mention a few. Often physicians are running out of option to treat these conditions because the underlying cause has never been diagnosed.

Sometimes our body develops adverse reactions to common and absolutely healthy food we eat every day. These adverse reactions are called food sensitivities not to be confused with food allergies.

The difficulties diagnosing food sensitivities include that
- Symptoms can manifest from 4-96 hours after ingestion
- Reactions are often dose dependent
- There are usually many reactive foods and food-chemical triggers
- Trigger foods are very individually different.

When food sensitivities are involved in these diseases and often they are then proper dietary management can have a tremendous impact on reducing the symptoms often to a point of complete remission.

How do we test which food cause sensitivities?

Since the immune system is like a huge orchestra there are many tests to identify certain immune reactions. Almost everybody is familiar with skin testing detecting allergies. These tests are good for food allergies such as egg or peanut allergies. Food allergies however are usually easy to detect since the reaction shows up immediately after the food has been eaten.

Tests to detect food sensitivities are for example ELISA IgG, ALCAT and MRT.
ELISA IgG is not that useful as IgG is also a protective antibody, so high amounts may be a good thing. ALCAT uses an older technology and is not reliable over 90%.
When you receive a blood test kit from your doctor ask him which test he uses.

The Mediator Release Test (MRT) tests for 150 food and food additives. It has been developed by Signet Diagnostics in the late 1990 and is very accurate and showed consistently over 90% reliability. MRT is currently the most useful blood test for food sensitivities on the market.


The dietary department of Signet Diagnostics developed a dietary management program called LEAP (Lifestyle Eating and Performance). A four week program designed according to the individual’s MRT results provides guidelines from total elimination of reactive foods to slowly reintroducing lesser reactive foods to a new diet that can be maintained for life. Your LEAP certified registered dietitian is your guide on this path to a symptom free life.

"Isn't Pilates like Yoga?"

What are the differences, similarities and benefits of doing both?

Besides its physical activities Yoga is a life style, rooted in thousand year old
philosophies. Meditation and chanting are the basis for spiritual enlightenment which leads to reduced stress, strengthening of the immune system and overall well-being.

Pilates is a set of exercises founded about 100 years ago by Joseph Pilates. About 500 different exercises were identified to strengthen the core musculature in order to restore the natural posture of the human body.

The physical component of Yoga is comprised of up to 900 different exercises that teach balance, flexibility as well as strength. Exercises are eiher poses held for several breaths or a set of fluid movement such as the sun salutation.

Pilates uses various apparatus to support, align, and challenge the body. Pilates employs few repetitions of exercises to build up the "girdle of strength", which includes the abdominals, buttocks, low back, and inner thighs. The gymnastic vigor with which Pilates exercises are performed is in drastic opposition to Yoga exercises.

The vigorous exercises for Pilates use a breath that oxygenates the body, whereas the slower inhale and exhale during Yoga calms the nervous system, and changes levels of consciousness.

Despite these differences Yoga and Pilates have some similar poses and exercises, but in general they complement each other perfectly. The muscular strength that you build with Pilates can be applied in Yoga poses to achieve better balance. The stretching poses of Yoga are beneficial for improving the overall flexibility of your body.

NEW class Core Circuit with Devin Burke

Our core circuit class is a combination of weight and functional training techniques infused with cardio for a non stop fat melting workout. The Core Circuit classes are great for anyone looking for a new and fun way to burn claroeis and tone up. The classes usually last about 40 minutes. Several stations are set up and participants do the specified exercises at each station for 40 sec with 20 sec break.

Our trainer Devin Burke is a certified personal trainer by the America College of Sports Medicine with 4 years training experience and a bachelor’s degree from Florida Atlantic University in Exercise Science. He is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Physical Therapy and just finished a 4 month Internship at the Palm Beach Institute of Sports Medicine working as a Therapeutic Exercise Technician, helping physical therapist develop and implement exercise programs to rehab athletes and the general public. "I believe that exercise should be enjoyable and fun and I create a fun yet challenging training experience for all of my clients. I'm a firm believer in the holistic wellness approach to health. True health is achieved by having all aspects of health be in balance physically, mentally, socially and spiritually."