3 Reasons to Consider Restore Health When Searching for a “Functional Medical Physician Near Me”

Functional medical physician near me

Have you been looking for a way to achieve overall health and wellness in your life? You’ve come to the right place! When you search for a “functional medical physician near me,” you will find Restore Health Center. We use advanced Functional Medicine practices to identify what is holding you back from improving your quality of life, addressing the root causes of your health concerns so you can feel your best. We believe in treating more than just symptoms to help you find optimal health. Here are 3 reasons you should consider Restore Health Center when searching for a functional medical physician:

  1. We have the expertise – Dr. James Howton, our founder, started out training in family medicine but over time transitioned to Functional and Regenerative Medicine. Dr. Howton designed Restore Health Center to focus on issues currently not being addressed by a traditional medicine model and to emphasize health optimization rather than simply disease care. His diverse background in conventional medicine, combined with his passion and expertise in Functional Medicine, make him uniquely qualified to help people who are not finding good answers in traditional medicine. He has the expertise of both worlds to be able to adequately diagnose your health concerns and find lasting treatment options that will have you feeling better overall. 

    Dr. Rachel Fischer is a graduate of the University of Utah School of Medicine and is trained in both internal and preventive medicine. Dr. Fischer maintains a healthy and active lifestyle and has witnessed firsthand the benefits of preventive medicine in her own life. She is passionate about helping others to achieve the healthy life they desire and deserve, and to experience the positive effects that come from such lifestyle changes and maintenance.

    Dr. Howton and Dr. Fischer are experienced in both Functional Medicine and traditional medicine allowing them to choose the best from both worlds in order to help you achieve your health goals. They are here to help when you are looking for “Functional Medicine physicians near me.”
  2. Your “functional medical physician near me” and the services we offer – At Restore Health Center, we offer you the best treatments, ranging from traditional medical interventions to innovative modalities. We provide nutritional supplementation through IV therapy, ultraviolet light therapies, detoxification, bioidentical hormone restoration, lifestyle consultations, and so much more. 

    We offer treatments for gastrointestinal disorders, metabolic disease, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, and thyroid dysfunction. We also offer specialized services for women and men

    At Restore Health Center, we’re committed to your overall wellbeing. We’re your partner in solving and effectively treating disorders and health concerns. We have the tools to diagnose your health concerns and the necessary treatments to address the root causes of your ailments. We’re not here just to treat your symptoms or prescribe another pill, but rather to find the underlying causes of your pain and discomfort and stop them from happening. 
  3. We truly focus on Functional Medicine – Functional Medicine is a methodology that addresses the underlying causes of chronic disease rather than simply managing symptoms. The tools and philosophy that we use as your Fort Collins Functional Medicine physicians help us to identify how patients become ill and any patterns involved that cause the disease or ailment. A Functional Medicine approach allows us to be more efficient and effective when treating patients, because we look at the body as a whole and work to understand how your unique system functions. 

    We also understand that diagnoses are not always simple – sometimes it requires out of the box thinking and a willingness to keep digging. We also know that a diagnosis for our patients often involves looking for more than one cause. For example, depression can be caused by many different factors – sometimes it has to do with one’s brain chemistry, but other things like gut health and inflammation can also certainly play a role in your mental health. Each cause can manifest itself differently depending on the individual’s environment, lifestyle, and genes. Only treatments that address all of the causes will have lasting benefits on your overall health.

    Restore Health Center is an innovative medical practice focused on helping you get your systems back to optimal function. With our complete wellness approach, you can live your healthiest life.

Ready to get started and take control of your health? Restore Health Center is your “functional medical physician near me,” and we’re here to help you. We are focused on identifying and removing the things that push you toward disease to help you fill your life with things that create overall wellness. Click here to learn more about our services, and contact us to set up a consultation. You can be on your way to optimal health today!

Meet Restore Health: the Loveland Functional Medicine Doctor You’ve Been Looking For!

Loveland functional medicine doctor

Taking control of your health is one of the best decisions you can make for yourself. Functional Medicine involves healing the body as a whole – not just addressing your symptoms – to help you attain optimal wellness. Drs. James Howton and Rachel Fischer are Restore Health Center’s two top Functional Medicine physicians located in Loveland, CO. We’re conveniently located for individuals living in Loveland, Fort Collins, and Northern Colorado, however, we offer services to people living throughout Colorado and surrounding states. We provide a preventative approach to traditional medical practices. If you’re on the lookout for a Functional Medicine doctor, taking a look at Restore Health Center will be worth your time. 

Functional Medicine is relatively new. It is an area of medicine that still relies on the traditional medical practices you’re used to, including utilizing lab tests and studies, but Functional Medicine addresses the root cause of problems instead of just treating the presenting symptoms. Optimal health and wellness are our top priority. As Functional Medicine doctors in Loveland, we’re here to provide life-style based and natural solutions for your complete wellness.

What is Functional Medicine?

Functional Medicine is when doctors look into their patient’s histories, genetics, and environmental and lifestyle factors to see how they could influence long term health or lead to chronic disease. It focuses on treating the body as a whole organism, not just a collection of organs. It is more effective in the management and prevention of chronic diseases. 

When a patient-centered approach is used, physicians can support the healing process better. Health and illness are components that are affected by their environment. The goal of Functional Medicine is to change a person’s health from illness to overall well-being through shifting lifestyle and environmental factors.

What Do We Do At Restore Health – A Loveland Functional Medicine Doctor?

At Restore Health, we approach health challenges by addressing underlying issues first and focusing on disease prevention, not just treating symptoms with medication. We will take a close look at how your body interacts with food, environmental exposures, stress, and more. We serve patients living throughout Colorado and neighboring states, but we’re conveniently located for patients living in Fort Collins, Loveland, and Northern CO.

We offer treatments for autoimmune disease, thyroid dysfunction, gastrointestinal disorders, metabolic disease, cardiovascular disease, and more. We also offer specialized services and treatment options specific to men, like GAINSWave, as well as specific treatments for women, like Geneveve.

As functional medicine physicians, we strive to offer the best that medicine has to offer, ranging from traditional medical interventions to innovative treatments like bio-identical hormone restoration, targeted nutritional supplementation, detoxing therapies, and more. 

How Do We Address Common Chronic Medical Conditions? 

We start by identifying and removing the things that push you toward disease. Then we help you fill your life with practices that create wellness to prevent disease and keep you healthy. When you work with us, we help you achieve optimal function.

At Restore Health, we believe in using food, nutritional supplements, exercise as well as meditation and stress reduction methods to address the underlying causes of your health problems. We work with you to find how best to help you achieve complete and lasting wellness. Restore Health Center is your destination for a Loveland Functional Medicine doctor. We are dedicated to helping you achieve overall wellness, identifying and removing the things that push you toward disease, and filling your life with practices that keep you healthy. Contact us today at 970-278-0900 to schedule your consultation and learn more about how we can help you achieve the quality of life you’ve always wanted!

Food Allergies: Adverse Food Reactions and Allergy Evaluation with Restore Health Center

Restore Health Center

Have you ever experienced dizziness, recurrent headaches, hives, and/or a swollen or itchy tongue after eating a certain food? Do you have consistent joint pain or tummy troubles? Have you experienced bloating, constipation, gas, cramping, or nausea repeatedly after eating? These symptoms could mean that you have a food allergy sensitivity or an intolerance to certain foods.  Negative reactions to food are more common than you might think, and if you suspect that you have adverse food reactions, you might be right. Here at Restore Health Center, we offer food sensitivity and allergy testing to help you discover which foods your body reacts to poorly and help you find ways to avoid them to live a healthy, symptom-free life. Additionally, we offer guided Elimination Diets, which can often be just as — if not more — helpful.

Adverse food reactions can be broken down into three basic categories: allergies, intolerances, and sensitivities. Food intolerances and sensitivities are more common than allergies. When you have a food allergy the reaction usually occurs within seconds to hours and symptoms result from your immune system increasing levels of a compound called IgE.  You might get hives, rash, or itchy feeling on your tongue or airways. This type of immune reaction has the potential to be quite severe, like with peanut allergies. When you have a food sensitivity, the reaction is still immune-mediated (by IgG and IgA) but can be slower than an IgE reaction and can occur within a few to 72 hours. That’s what makes identifying the source of these reactions so difficult! Unlike the potential danger of a food allergy, food sensitivities are not life-threatening but can lead to several uncomfortable or painful symptoms including belly pain, bloating, heartburn, headaches, joint pain, worsening skin issues like acne and eczema, as well as increased fatigue or sleep disturbances. Food intolerances are not an immune reaction and tend to result from poor digestion such as lactose intolerance because of the low production of the lactase enzyme that breaks down lactose.

Sometimes people don’t realize that they are experiencing adverse reactions to a specific food because of a delayed response and/or a reaction to multiple foods. Ongoing food reactions can also be a contributor to chronic health problems, such as digestive disturbances, chronic sinus congestion/drainage, mood swings, low energy, joint aches, and more. But this is often overlooked as a result of other health issues. Symptoms that have failed to respond to conventional medicine may often resolve by following an Elimination Diet, like the one used by the physicians at Restore Health.

Food Sensitivity Testing at Restore Health Center

Food allergy testing can be reliably helpful when you are trying to detect true food allergies. Food sensitivity testing is not always as dependable as allergy testing but it can definitely help reduce the guesswork in determining which foods your body may be struggling with. Doing a guided 21-30 day Elimination Diet is the gold standard for determining food sensitivities; however, testing takes less time and can be easier for some patients. 

At Restore Health Center, we prefer to use food sensitivity tests that examine your body’s reaction to the multiple peptides (the building blocks for protein) within specific foods that are common “offenders” such as eggs, dairy, wheat/gluten, corn, soy, and nuts. When you chew, digest and prepare/cook food many of the proteins are degraded or changed. General food sensitivity panels that test multiple foods are not examining how you react if the proteins change form. We have found that “peptide-level” tests better correlate clinically with the patient’s symptoms. 

As mentioned above, a great option for detecting food sensitivities, intolerances, or allergies is with the Institute for Functional Medicine Elimination Diet. An elimination diet removes certain foods that are known to cause uncomfortable symptoms. Then you reintroduce them one at a time no less than 21 days later while observing for symptoms. Once you have identified a food your body can’t tolerate, you can remove it from your diet to prevent any future uncomfortable symptoms. Unlike IgE allergies, foods you are only sensitive to can usually be reintroduced on a rotating basis after 9-12 months. 

During the three-week elimination diet, chronic symptoms should noticeably improve. After the three-week period, the food reintroduction process begins. You will add one food at a time back into your diet and observe if there are any negative symptoms associated with it. If a specific food continues to result in any negative symptoms, it is avoided for a longer period of time. Doing an elimination diet can seem daunting at first. At Restore Health Center, we provide patients with a comprehensive guide, weekly planner, and a shopping list to make it as easy as possible. Our health coach, Julie Michelson, can be a great resource to help patients through the whole process.

If you think you might have an adverse food reaction or sensitivity to a certain food, come to Restore Health Center for our food sensitivity testing. Our team of experts is dedicated to providing you with all of the tools and treatments to help you live your best and healthiest life. Contact us today to schedule your consultation and learn more about food sensitivity testing at Restore Health Center!

Top 3 Reasons to Visit Restore Health Center, Your Fort Collins Hormone Specialist

Fort Collins Hormone Specialist

Hormones are incredibly important for the overall function and health of our bodies. They are the messengers that tell other parts of our body when and how to work. When our hormones are out of balance, negative health symptoms can occur and impact:

  • Metabolism – how your body gets energy from the foods you eat
  • Sexual function – including libido, erectile function and vaginal dryness
  • Menstrual cycle irregularities – including heavy, painful periods
  • Perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms – including hot flashes, night sweats and weight gain
  • Reproduction
  • Energy and repair 
  • Mood

The physicians at Restore Health Center, your Fort Collins hormone specialist, can help with hormone imbalances through the use of bioidentical hormones.

Bioidentical hormones are man-made hormones but who’s chemical structure is exactly like the ones produced by our bodies, unlike synthetic hormones found in birth control pills and other hormone replacement drugs such as Premarin. Estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and DHEA are matched and used for the treatment of men and women who have hormones that are low or out of balance. If you are experiencing weight gain or bloating, depression or anxiety, low libido, or chronic fatigue, it might be time to get your hormones checked. Restore Health Center’s Fort Collins bioidentical hormones can help!

  1. Personalized treatment plan – Our complete hormone replacement therapy starts with a consultation with one of our medical professionals. Then we do specialized testing and analyze your hormone levels. From this testing, our physician can determine and implement a treatment plan that is personalized to you and your needs. Additionally, we take into account other factors that might be influencing your symptoms such as how you eat, exercise and sleep. We never look at your hormones in isolation and take into consideration other systems that both impact and are impacted by hormone health, including cardiovascular, metabolic, gastrointestinal and immune health. Among other recommendations, your treatment plan could include bioidentical hormone injections, subcutaneous pellets, or topical creams to help your body regain balance. 
  2. Expert doctors –  Both our doctors provide in-depth hormone evaluation and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Dr. Fischer is a 2006 graduate of the University of Utah School of Medicine and is trained in both internal medicine and preventive medicine. Dr. Howton completed his residency in Family Medicine in 1996 and practiced emergency medicine in Oklahoma until moving to Estes Park, Colorado. He has been using bioidentical hormones since the mid-1990s. With our Restore Health Center team, you are in the best hands. We have access to the latest technologies and devices, which allows us to meet the needs of our patients.
  3. Great results – We want to help you achieve your individual health goals to live your healthiest life. With everything we do, we strive to give you the best results possible. Restore Health Center, your Northern Colorado hormone replacement therapy clinic, uses only your body’s natural bioidentical hormones. We never replace hormones with synthetic chemicals. After the treatment, your hormones will be stabilized and your body will be better able to function at optimal health. 

If you are experiencing chronic fatigue, weight gain or bloating, depression or anxiety, or low libido, come see us at Restore Health Center, your Fort Collins hormone specialist. We can do a full hormone evaluation and help you bring your body back to optimal function. Contact us today to schedule your consultation and learn more about how bioidentical hormone therapy can help!

Restore Health Center: Functional Medicine Near Me

Functional Medicine Near Me

If you’ve been considering Functional Medicine as a way to achieve the level of health that you truly desire, we couldn’t agree more. Functional or Integrative Medicine involves healing the body as a whole, not just individual areas, to help you attain optimal wellness.  If you search “Functional Medicine Near Me,” you’ll come across our Northern Colorado Functional Medicine Clinic, Restore Health Center in Loveland, CO.

Restore Health Center Loveland is an innovative medical practice that is all about identifying and removing the things that push you toward disease, while filling your life with the things that create wellness so that you can get healthy and stay healthy. This revolutionary and  innovative way of approaching health care is gaining traction, and for good reason. Rather than simply relying on medications to treat symptoms, Functional Health professionals, including Dr. Rachel Fischer at Restore Health Center, work with you to help get your body’s functions working properly to remove the things that are causing your symptoms.

Functional Medicine is a relatively new area of medicine that relies on the traditional tenets of science-based medicine, including lab-based analysis, tests, and studies. But instead of just treating the presenting issue, Functional Medicine practitioners work to address the root causes of problems with a wide range of treatments at their disposal. These treatments include everything that traditional medicine offers, as well as non-traditional remedies such as diet, meditation, stress reduction, exercise, and oftentimes nutritional supplements and herbal treatments, all based on the labs and studies doctors have come to rely on. We work intimately with you to find what works best for your body and needs.

Dr. Rachel Fischer is a preventative medicine specialist at Restore Health Center Loveland. A preventive medicine specialist is a physician who, through additional training, has become an expert in methods for maintaining good health and preventing disease. These specialists are the doctors people see when they are generally well and want to learn how to either maintain their current health or acquire better health. Dr. Fischer maintains a healthy and active lifestyle and has witnessed firsthand the amazing health benefits of preventive medicine in her own life. She is passionate about helping others achieve the healthy life they desire and deserve, and experience the positive effects that come from such lifestyle changes and maintenance.

Based on their particular needs, Dr. Fischer advises her patients on specific diets, exercise regimens, and lifestyle habits. She takes into account a patient’s nutrition deficiencies, physical and cardiovascular capabilities, and lifestyle in order to advise about specific supplements or medications, how much physical activity to undertake, and which habits should be broken and replaced with more positive behavior. Through this Functional Medicine approach, we like to emphasize a therapeutic relationship between our providers and patients. We enjoy working together to helping you achieve a happier, healthier life.

Health and wellness is your top priority, and as your Northern Colorado Functional Medicine Clinic, we’re here to help provide you with natural solutions for your complete wellness. Ready to get started? Please click here to learn more about our services and contact us to set up a consultation.