Patient Information
What are Medical Foods?
A Medical Food is a formula used for the dietary management of disease. It is made with ingredients found in the normal food chain. It is intended to be given under the supervision of a doctor. They are used to correct a nutritional deficiency in the body that is related to a known disease.
What do Medical Foods do?
Medical Foods allow certain amino acids to target and enter nerve, brain and muscle cells. Once these amino acids enter the cell, the selected neurotransmitter can be made and released. Certain medical conditions can be improved by using specific nutrients.
What are neurotransmitters?
Neurotransmitters are the messengers that travel between one brain cell and another. They are chemical signals that neurons use to talk to each other, which is what makes the brain work.
Why do I need neurotransmitters?
Neurotransmitters help determine how the body functions and how you feel, think and act. Many diseases and conditions are caused by a depletion of certain neurotransmitters. Medical Foods contain the neurotransmitters
that are needed to help restore our bodies to a healthy state.
What causes neurotransmitter depletion?
The body uses amino acids, which are found in protein, to make neurotransmitters. These amino acids come from the foods we eat; therefore, the wrong diet can cause a lack of neurotransmitters. Stress, disease, environment, genetics, and prescription drugs can also cause a depletion of neurotransmitters.
How do Medical Foods work?
Medical Foods supply the body with the proper ingredients to make specialized neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters are then released from the cells to manage specific diseases and conditions.
Are Medical Foods harmful to my body?
All ingredients found in Medical Foods are approved by the FDA as GRAS (Generally Regarded as Safe) and are found in the normal food chain. They are non-addictive and non-toxic.
Are there side effects?
The side effects from Medical Foods are comparable to food intolerance found in the general population. Side effects are rare, but there have been occasional complaints of mild stomach upset, mild headaches or mouth dryness. These side effects are minor and temporary.
Patients who have been diagnosed with a history of malignant melanoma should not take Medical Foods containing tyrosine.
Will Medical Foods interfere with my other medicines?
Medical Foods work through a different pathway from prescription drugs and do not interfere with other medications. Medical Foods should not be taken with MAO inhibitors. (Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors are an older class of drugs were used for treating depression)
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