Rethinking Cold and Flu Season

Factors That Affect Your Immune System

by Mila McManus MD

As cold and flu season approaches, I thought I would take a moment to give some tips on creating an effective and strong immune system. Often what makes for a “strong immune system” can be confusing and, when you consider that your immune system is your body’s natural defense against threats to your health, you may think more seriously about taking steps to strengthen it. Let’s make your immune system so strong that it’s always ready to be in fighting mode when the risk for illness is at its highest.

A strong immune system is actually one that is optimized and resting until it is called to action and you can do your part to help yours stay that way by boosting supplements and also understanding several factors that can undermine it.

Hand Washing: It is very important to remember that influenza and colds are not caused by bacteria, but yet rather a wide variety of viruses. The most common way cold and flu viruses are spread is through hand to hand contact. One of the easiest ways to lower your risk is to frequently wash your hands with soap and water.
Vitamin D: While colds and flus are caused by viral infections, research shows that your body’s susceptibility to infection is related to, at least partially, an underlying vitamin D deficiency.
Probiotics: The road to good health is paved with good intestines. Probiotics can help you keep your immune system healthy by helping you ward off disease. Remember that 80% of your immune system lies in your gastrointestinal tract. Good gut bacteria actually turn on disease fighting genes to help suppress those genes that can cause a plethora of health troubles.
Good Sleep: If you are not getting adequate and restorative sleep, your body will be at risk for a hostile virile takeover. Your immune system is at its best when you are most rested. Also, the more rested you are, the quicker you are more likely to recover if you do catch a virus.

By Mila McManus MD|2013-10-02T14:55:07-05:00September 24th, 2013|Articles, General|

Healthy Halloween Trick or Treating

The costume stores are open and the decorations, candy, and treats are already starting to line the aisles at the local grocery and retail stores. The Holiday Season is beginning again. I don’t know about you, but if our family can just come out of the nutritional gate the right way at the end of October, we can get pretty organized and motivated to eat right throughout the holiday season. Alternatively, if we give in at Halloween and start the candy and Starbucks pumpkin treats, it is a struggle to get back on track and finish the season healthy and happy. So for all of you struggling to keep yourself and the whole family on track, here are some ideas to start out right for candy free Halloween fun….

Ideal edible options for Trick or Treat snacks include mini raisin boxes, fresh small apples or tangerines, mini Lara Bars, mini KIND bars and mini bananas.
Everyone is thirsty during Trick or Treat, so offer mini bottles of water or Honest Kids Fruit Drinks, or homemade lemonade as a treat.
Fill up a basket with spooky scary stuff like plastic eye balls, slimy rubbery snakes and spiders, and fake fingers.
Include Halloween pencils, tiny books, writing tablets and mini Play Dough from the dollar store, Walmart, Michael’s or Target.
Glow Sticks, necklaces and wristbands increase safety during Trick or Treating and are a welcomed treat for all ages.
Give out stickers and temporary tattoos
Know that it is OK to run out of treats, turn off the lights and lock the door!
When your kids come home with their candy, allow them to keep a couple of pieces, and then negotiate a trade-in with you in exchange for a trip to the toy or dollar store.
Contact www.operationgratitude.com to help out our troops with your Halloween candy donation and show the kids how to give back.

By Mila McManus MD|2013-09-27T11:59:42-05:00September 24th, 2013|Articles, NANCY’S NUTRITIONAL NUGGET|

The Life Changing Loaf of Bread

This is a very nutrient dense gluten free bread, which provides high quality fat, protein and fiber, while keeping carbohydrates at a minimum. Delicious with butter, goat cheese, ham or honey. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
•1 cup /sunflower or pumpkin seeds
•½ cup /whole flax seeds
•½ cup /hazelnuts or almonds
•1 ½ cups /gluten free rolled oats
•2 Tbsp. chia seeds
•4 Tbsp. psyllium seed husks (3 Tbsp. if using psyllium husk powder)
•1 tsp. fine grain sea salt (add ½ tsp. if using coarse salt)
•1 Tbsp. maple syrup (for sugar-free diets, use a pinch of stevia)
•3 Tbsp. melted coconut oil or ghee
•1 ½ cups water

Directions:
In a flexible, silicone loaf pan combine all dry ingredients, stirring well. (Any loaf pan will also work, but please butter if using non-silicone). Whisk maple syrup, oil, and water together in a measuring cup. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix very well until everything is completely soaked and dough becomes very thick (if the dough is too thick to stir, add one or two teaspoons of water until the dough is manageable). Smooth out the top with the back of a spoon. Let sit out on the counter for at least 2 hours, or all day or overnight. To ensure the dough is ready, it should retain its shape even when you pull the sides of the loaf pan away from it.

2. Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C.

3. Place loaf pan in the oven on the middle rack, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove bread from loaf pan, place it upside down directly on the rack and bake for another 30-40 minutes. Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool completely before slicing (difficult, but important).

4. Store bread in a tightly sealed container for up to five days. Freezes well too. Slice before freezing for quick and easy toast!

Thanks to www.mynewroots.org

By Mila McManus MD|2014-07-31T11:21:55-05:00September 24th, 2013|General, Recipes|

N-Acetyl Cysteine

N-Acetyl Cysteine or “NAC” as it is commonly called, has been extensively researched for its antioxidant properties especially in its ability to neutralize the chemical by-products associated with environmental exposures. Some of these exposures are the result of everyday contaminants in the items listed below:

Second hand smoke
Air fresheners, deodorizers, candles
Lawn pesticides (& chemical drift from pesticide applications)
Cleaning products
Gasoline & Kerosene fumes from power equipment
Chemicals produced from backyard burning
Building materials (carpet & paint)

NAC is easily converted to glutathione ( pronounced “gloota-thigh-own” ) which is the most important molecule you need to stay healthy and prevent aging, cancer, heart disease, dementia and more. Glutathione is sometimes called the mother of all antioxidants and, coupled with its stability and long half life in the body, makes it a very economical and powerful antioxidant.

*information obtained from cpmedical.net

By Mila McManus MD|2013-09-02T09:37:16-05:00August 29th, 2013|Articles, General|

The Woodlands Institute for Health & Wellness voted “Best of the Woodlands” by Living Magazines Readers

LIVING magazine recently had their readers vote for the best local businesses and professionals in The Woodlands area. We are excited to announce that The Woodlands Institute for Health and Wellness has been awarded Living Magazine’s 2013 Reader’s Choice “Best of The Woodlands” Awards in 3 categories:

Best Family Practice Doctor/Group
Best Local Weight Loss Program
Best Health Food/Supplements

Living Magazine is a community lifestyle magazine providing community based articles and advice about home, business development and local events – with editions for various cities around the state. The lists of “bests” were featured in the magazine’s August issue.

Kim Beale, TWIHW Director of Program Development, said “The Woodlands Institute is honored to receive the awards. We truly value this endorsement from our patients and one of the best magazines around”.

TWIHW would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to our community for the honor and the privilege of providing a holistic alternative to mainstream medicine.

Resources:

Functional Medicine: Wellness 101

Health Newsletter

Ask Dr McManus

By Mila McManus MD|2022-10-10T17:22:07-05:00August 22nd, 2013|Articles, General|

Slow Roasted Beef Brisket

Just in time for Football season! This is a super easy, fix it and forget it, low calorie recipe for slow roasted beef brisket that you can toss in the crockpot for game day.

You will need the following ingredients:
•1 Lean Beef Brisket
•4-6 stalks celery
•1 tablespoon garlic powder
•1 tablespoon onion powder
•1 tablespoon paprika
•¼ cup chopped onion
•5 cloves of garlic crushed and chopped
•Cayenne pepper to taste
•Chili pepper to taste
•Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:
Combine spices in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture into the beef on all sides. Salt the meat liberally. Place the brisket in crock pot and fill about ½ full with water. Add celery to the liquid and set crock pot on high for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to medium or low and allow brisket to slow cook for 6-8 hours. Baste and turn periodically. You may add more of the spice mixture if you wish. Enjoy with horseradish sauce.

*taken from Tanya Skye’s diet Cookbook

By Mila McManus MD|2020-09-14T16:40:55-05:00August 22nd, 2013|General, Recipes|

It is Time for a Lunchbox Makeover!

One of the best ways to love your children well is to send them to school with foods that promote good energy levels and mental alertness. This year, as you prepare for a busy school year, take a couple steps in the right direction to improve those lunch boxes and snacks for the kids. Every lunch box should have a piece of fruit and one raw vegetable! Eliminate a couple processed food items such as traditional bread, popcorn, gold fish and chips as well as high sugar foods in exchange for whole foods. Buy appropriate, good quality containers to make packing lunch easier (check out www.lunchbots.com as an example). Then plan ahead. Fruit salad, tossed salads and meat based mayo salads as well as many other items can be made on Sunday and packed up for the week ahead. Here are some food swap ideas to help you get organized.

Instead of traditional or whole grain breads, try Organic Corn Tortillas or homemade Wheat Belly Basic Bread recipe (Wheat Belly Cookbook by William David, MD, Rodale 2013).

Instead of a sandwich, try Meat Roll-ups – use a piece of deli meat, spread with mayo, mustard, guacamole or hummus, add lettuce or field greens and roll it up.

Instead of a sandwich, try Chicken, Egg, Tuna or Salmon salad in a bowl.

Instead of a sandwich, try left over meat bites, hummus and veggie strips.

Instead of high sugar yogurts, try Stoneyfield YoKids Squeezers or 4 oz yogurts.

Instead of potato chips, try Mary’s Gone Crackers Pretzel Sticks, Central Market Exotic Vegetable Sweet Potato Chips or Beanito Chips.

Instead of granola bars, brownies and cookies try Lara Bars or KIND Bars.

Instead of soft drinks, fruit juices or smoothies, try Bottled Water, Fruitables or Honest Kids fruit drinks.

Instead of cookies and brownies, try homemade trail mix with 60% cocoa dark chocolate chips, raw cashews, peanuts and almonds and add in some roasted pumpkin seeds and unsweetened coconut flakes and a few organic raisins or dried cranberries.

For more breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack ideas to feed healthy hungry kids for a busy school year, schedule an appointment with me by calling 281-298-6742. We can help with picky eaters and children’s weight management concerns.

By Mila McManus MD|2013-08-04T18:54:42-05:00July 30th, 2013|Articles, NANCY’S NUTRITIONAL NUGGET|

Dr. McManus gave me back my sense of Well-Being

Thankfully I have always been physically active. A long time ago I realized that exercise & eating healthfully are the keys to longevity. As a single mom of three young boys I thought I did a fairly good job of balancing home & career. Unfortunately, life happens & over the last few years my stress levels have gone through the roof. I was plagued by sleepless nights & paralyzing anxiety & although I maintained a steady level of physical activity & what I thought was a healthy diet based on the American Food Pyramid, something began to change in me. My joints started to ache. I became extremely fatigued from not having restful sleep. I began to lose my drive, focus & would find myself becoming forgetful. I was “brain fogged” so to speak & would become increasingly frustrated when I couldn’t give my full attention to the task at hand. It was a vicious spiral of stress in which I could feel my general health & feelings of peace & well-being very gradually slipping away & being replaced with acute joint pain, depression & exhaustion.

From the advice of a good friend, I became a patient of Dr. McManus & The Woodlands Institute for Health & Wellness. One of the first things I learned was how important a healthy gut is to our overall health & how the continued use of antibiotics & some prescription medicines leads to an overabundance of yeast overgrowth in our intestines. This opportunistic growth blocks absorption of vitamins & minerals causing nutritional deficiencies. It also allows toxins to seep into our blood stream, brain & nervous system causing a plethora of disorders.

I immediately began a “Yeast Cleanse” abstaining from grain, dairy, sugar & alcohol for 28 days. I had lab work done. I met with their amazing nutritionist Nancy for a consultation & found out the American Food Pyramid heavily saturated with grains is actually not so healthy after all. I also started a strong regimen of supplements & bio-identical hormones custom targeted to meet my individual needs. Within 10 days I began to see & feel a noticeable difference. My joint pain began to dissipate. I was able to run a full marathon mid cleanse and my energy was and continues to be amazing.

I have been a patient now for 6 months & it is incredible to me how much better I feel. The difference is absolutely amazing. I have a renewed sense of energy, more than enough to get me through my long days. My cravings for sugar & carbs such as bread have decreased & I am making much more educated choices in purchasing nutritious & wholesome food for my family. The pain that I was experiencing in my joints is completely gone. I am sleeping soundly through the night & my anxiety is now thankfully under control.

Thank you so much Dr. McManus and staff for restoring my sense of overall health & well-being. I am so happy to be a patient of The Woodlands Institute for Health & Wellness. You made a difference in my life. My respect for you and what you do daily to make your patients’ overall health and quality of life better is immense.

Caroline

By Mila McManus MD|2014-01-17T00:07:29-05:00July 25th, 2013|Articles, Testimonials|

MIGRA SPRAY

What is it?

Migra Spray is a patented over the counter homeopathic medicine intended to be a comprehensive approach for the treatment and prevention of migraine headaches (MigraSpray can also be effective for treating the pain and symptoms associated with menstrual cycles as well as tension headaches and hangovers). Use it for the rapid treatment of a migraine attack or use it daily to reduce or eliminate the onset of migraine headache symptoms.

MigraSpray is made available only through healthcare professionals. MigraSpray is not available through chain retail stores or outlets.

FOR TREATMENT OF MIGRAINE ATTACK:
The efficacy of MigraSpray in treating acute migraine attack was clearly demonstrated in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind crossover trial for migraine headache relief drawn from a general population. APPROXIMATELY 88% OF THE PATIENTS STUDIED HAD RELIEF IN AN AVERAGE OF LESS THAN 7 MINUTES.

FOR PREVENTION:
MigraSpray was shown to be highly effective in preventing migraine in a study of patients suffering from frequent migraines conducted by Dr. Fred Pescatore, Director of the Centers for Integrative and Complementary Medicine in New York City and Dallas. The participants in the study used MigraSpray each day and APPROXIMATELY 90% HAD THEIR MIGRAINE ATTACKS ELIMINATED AS LONG AS THEY CONTINUED WITH REGULAR DAILY USAGE.

MigraSpray is now available for purchase at TWIHW.

*information obtained from migraspray.com

By Mila McManus MD|2013-08-05T15:30:59-05:00July 25th, 2013|Articles, General|

Why do 1 in 10 kids in the US have ADHD?

How cutting out certain food Additives could curb ADHD (and cancer too).

Cases of allergies, asthma, ADHD & Autism are surging among U.S. children. A U.S. Government survey claims that 1 in 10 U.S. children now have ADHD. This is a dramatic increase from several years earlier. ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) makes it difficult for children to control impulsive behavior and pay attention. Approximately 2/3 of the children diagnosed with ADHD are on some form of prescription medication.

Scientists are exploring whether these conditions are related to exposure to toxic chemicals that are common in most of the processed food that fills our supermarkets, homes & school cafeterias.

We all know that Junk food is bad, but when money and time are tight, fast, readily available processed food is often the cheapest way to put calories into your kid’s belly. These fast foods are often riddled with unhealthy ingredients that experts think may contribute to, and worsen, ADHD. The most common are:

Sodium Benzoate, a preservative (e.g., found in soda)
Blue #1 and #2 food coloring
Green #3
Orange B
Red #3 and #40
Yellow #5 & #6

If your child has ADHD-like symptoms, first be sure your child has been given an age appropriate assessment to rule out that his or her “acting out” is actually normal. Then implement the following strategies as they often work exceptionally well in treating this condition.

Eliminate most grains and sugars from your child’s diet. Even organic and whole grain can cause problems. Give him/her a “grain holiday” and see if behavior improves.
Replace soft drinks (whether diet or regular), fruit juices, and pasteurized milk with pure, clean non fluoridated water. While you may believe fruit juices are a healthy alternative to soda, they really aren’t and need to be avoided.
Avoid all processed foods, especially those containing artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives.
Minimize the use of nearly all processed fats, especially trans- fat as they disrupt nerve cell intercommunication.
Clear your house of dangerous pesticides. Pesticides are not chemicals to preserve life. To the contrary they are created and used to end it by killing bugs and weeds. Pesticide exposure has been linked to ADHD.
Avoid commercial grade washing detergents and cleaning products and replace them with naturally derived cleaning products with no added dyes, perfumes, softeners.
Increase omega 3 fats by taking a high quality animal based omega-3 oil. Krill oil is the best for this as it is more easily absorbed.

*information obtained from ewg.com, mercola.com, feingold.org & gapsdiet.com

By Mila McManus MD|2013-08-05T15:35:32-05:00July 25th, 2013|General|

About Mila McManus MD

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