Healworks has been organized as an alternative to modern medical family practice. We use nutritional supplements to support the body in its recovery to full health. We do not apply these supplements “willy-nilly”, but follow very stringent protocols in establishing what your body needs and how best to utilize it. Neither do we purchase bulk vitamins that we then sell you as “ top of the line”.

Dr. Gunter has developed a double blind testing protocol that has demonstrated its efficacy over the past three decades. The power of the double blind procedure is that neither Dr. Gunter nor the patient know what supplement is being tested and so the result is being defined by the body’s interaction with the nutrient, not as the result of an (albeit) educated guess on the part of the doctor. This gives a firm foundation not only for knowing what supplements one needs, but also implies the details of the dysfunction that is being treated (if the body needs this, then that elucidates a component of the diagnosis).

For example, a thirty year old woman with chronic lower back pain comes into the office. She has been to everyone and they cannot alleviate her back pain. During the exam she mentions that she has a history of irregular menses and cramping. In testing the muscles that support her lumbar spine, we find that all the muscles that share nerves with the uterus are completely weak. They cannot hold her vertebrae in position as she moves through her day. In performing the nutrition evaluation, we find that a particular nutrient strengthens the muscles in question. She is treated with standard Chiropractic adjusting but she is also put on the nutrient to strengthened the weak muscles. A week later her lower back pain is improved and two weeks after that it is totally alleviated. In a follow up visit she mentions that her period this month was a “blessing”. There was no cramping and it arrived on time.

NOW, WE DID NOT TREAT HER MENSTRUAL PROBLEM. We treated the muscles involved with the happy synchronicity that her menses improved. There is absolutely no data as to her menstrual problems and no diagnosis was assessed. She was referred to her Gynecologist for that. However, in order to fix the lower back weakness, the associated muscles had to be strengthened and, as often happens, strengthening the muscles seems to assist the organ in returning to normal function. This is not an example of “curing” a disease with a supplement. It is simply providing a supplement that the body needs and, therefore, the body works better.

At some offices, especially at the nutritionally-integrated health care ones, the patient leaves the office with $500 in supplements. They get a shopping bag with a Logo and have to go home and take 56 pills a day. I refer to this as a “shotgun” approach to nutritional care. There is no specificity and no defined hypothesis of how these supplements will help. And if the patient does feel better, no one knows which supplement made the improvement! The patient is doomed to take 56 pills a day and pay $500 a month as long as they intend to stay healthy. Which is not so great for the patient but it certainly helps the doctor’s office hold its bottom line.

At Healworks, we rigorously define what nutritional supplement you need and our protocol indicates what nutrient you need, how long you need it and when you can discontinue taking it.

To reach a state of Health and Ease, you should not require numerous specialized nutritional formulas every day for the rest of your life. Once homeostasis has been restored you only need the basic nutrients that your age, activity level and stress level demand. The healthier you get, the less you should need.