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Frequently Asked QuestionsAbout Dr. Wallace's Nutrition Consulting Services
(you can also download the FAQ's in PDF by clicking here)
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| What are your qualifications? |
| What health conditions
do you specialize in? |
| Have you written any articles
or presented at conferences? |
| How is your approach different
than that of a dietician? |
| How can a healthy diet and
nutritional supplements help me? |
| Where do you get
your information? |
| Tell me about your research
on cancer and natural agents. |
| What about various nutrition controversies? |
| What can I expect from our
work together? |
| Will my insurance cover
nutrition consulting? |
What are your qualifications?
I have been working in the field of nutrition since 1989 and am a registered member of the National Association of Nutrition Professionals (NANP #20022). I hold both a Master's and PhD degrees in human nutrition from American State University in Honolulu, HI (an external degree program). In addition, I have completed 750 hours of classroom instruction at the Institute for Educational Therapy (now Bauman College), a California-state licensed nutrition consultant training program considered one of the best in the country. By comparison, most U.S. medical schools require physicians to complete only 2-4 hours instruction in nutrition. I have served as a member on editorial boards for several peer-reviewed medical journals, including Integrative Cancer Therapies and The International Journal of Integrative Medicine.
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What health conditions do you specialize in?
My focus is on evidence-based complementary cancer care: educating my clients how to integrate a healthy diet and carefully selected dietary supplements with their medical treatments - surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or immunotherapy - to optimize the body's healing capacity. I specialize in malignant brain tumors, and in 2001, I submitted a "Best Case Series" of stage IV brain tumor clients to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) National Center for Alternative and Complementary Medicine (NCCAM). I also work with clients healing from colon, breast, ovarian, endometrial, pancreatic, and head-and-neck cancers, as well as malignant melanoma.
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Have you written any articles or presented
at conferences?
Here is a listing of just a few of my recent publications and speaking
engagements:
- "Nutritional and Herbal Strategies to Complement Conventional Brain Tumor Treatments" Diagnosis: Brain Tumor, You Are Not Alone. JFK Medical Hospital, Neuroscience Center, Edison, NJ, October 15, 2005.
[Sponsored by the New Jersey Brain Tumor Foundation].
- "The healing power of a wholesome diet for brain tumor patients." The Brain Tumour Society, www.tbts.org August 2005.
- "How Diet and Nutrition Can Help Control Cancer: Focus on Nutritional Genomics" Cancer As A Turning Point Conference, Greenville, SC, June 25-26, 2005.
- "Integrative tumor board: Glioblastoma multiforme--Nutritional and botanical Approach." Integrative Cancer Therapies, Jun 2004;3(2): 149-72[152-63].
- "Expanding the Model of Cancer Treatments: How Diet and Nutrition Can Help Control Ovarian Cancer" Ovarian Cancer National Alliance 6th Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA, Sept. 17-19, 2003.
- "Nutritional and botanical modulation of the inflammatory cascade as an adjunct in cancer therapy." Integrative Cancer Therapies, Mar 2002;1:6-31.
- "Adjunctive Nutritional Treatment for Brain Cancer: Best Case Series of Glioblastoma Multiforme" Comprehensive Cancer Care Conference 2001, Washington, DC, October 19-21, 2001. [Sponsored by The National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), American Cancer Society, and Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation]
- Complementing Radiation and Chemotherapy with Appropriate Nutrition, presentation at the Cancer & Complementary Medicine Symposium, Cabrillo College, Capitola, CA: May 31, 2000.
- The Healing Power of Nutrition, presentation at the 6th National Brain Tumor Foundation Conference, Los Angeles, CA: March 31, 2000.
- Nutrition and Cancer, presentation at the Living with Cancer Series, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, Healing Journeys, WomenCare, and Dominican Hospital. Sesnon House, Cabrillo College, Capitola, CA: June 2, 1999.
- "Adjunctive nutrition and phytotherapy in primary malignant brain tumors" International Journal of Integrative Medicine, Mar/Apr 1999;1(2):28-36.
- "The cancer survivor's eating plan"
WomenCare Newsletter Spring 1999:2,6.
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How is your approach different than that
of a dietician?
There's far more to optimal nutrition than the four food groups,
food pyramids, and vaguely defined "balanced diets". My
approach fully integrates up-to-date research findings in nutritional
biochemistry. For example:
- I don't assume "One Diet Fits All".
My diet recommendations are individually tailored for each client.
- I prefer to teach you what constitutes healthy
eating rather than drawing up a diet plan for you to follow. This
way you can make healthier, informed choices based on your own
food preferences.
- My approach also examines your digestive capacity
and ability to absorb nutrients, because even the healthiest diet
is useless if you cannot digest and assimilate the nutrients it
provides.
- Unlike dieticians, who are not trained in the
use of supplements, I can teach you how to properly use dietary
supplements to support your health - while avoiding harmful drug-nutrient
interactions.
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How can a healthy diet and nutritional supplements
help me?
Doctors are not trained how to promote health - rather, they learn
the use of often invasive (and sometimes heroic!) measures to attack
disease or suppress its symptoms. For example, if you break a bone,
your doctor would apply a cast, but it is actually your body's innate
healing capacity that knits the fractured bone back together. Similarly,
surgery, radiation and chemotherapy are important "tools"
that can be utilized to attack cancer cells. But afterward, it's
up to your body's immune system and other innate anti-cancer defenses
to complete the healing process. Because vitamins and minerals promote the body's normal biochemical activities, nutrient deficiencies become "rate-limiting" factors, impeding the healing process. These biochemical imbalances can be effectively addressed
with a healthy diet and nutritional supplements. Nutrition is medicine's
"missing link"! Carefully selected vitamins, minerals, enzymes,
amino acids and phytonutrients (herbs) can help you promote health
and assist the healing process. Best of all, this approach has an
excellent safety record and is rarely associated with side effects.
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Where do you get your information.
I sometimes hear doctors dismiss nutritional therapies as "unproven". This criticism is untrue. Rather, doctors are unfamiliar with the large volume of research that supports nutritional therapies. The information I utilize comes from research published in scientific journals, medical textbooks and trade publications. To keep current in the field, I regularly attend medical conferences, review published research studies and interview prominent researchers about promising new cancer treatments and clinical trials.
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Tell me about your research on cancer and
natural agents.
For nearly 10 years, I have been amassing an extensive database
of research on natural agents and cancer (containing over 3,000
published studies). This enables me to distill a wide volume of
published research into my clients' protocols. My research focus
is in two areas:
- natural agents that complement conventional treatments
- like radiation and chemotherapy - by boosting their efficacy and
reducing their toxic side effects, and
- cutting-edge, non-toxic strategies to manipulate
the molecular processes that foster tumor growth and invasion. One
of these many strategies is anti-angiogenesis, the use of nutrients
and herbs to slow the growth of blood vessels that "feed"
a tumor and promote its spread.
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What about various nutrition controversies?
Many controversies exist in the field of nutrition. Can antioxidants be taken with radiation or chemotherapy? Is soy safe for women with estrogen-sensitive cancers? Is raw or cooked food better? Various nutrition authorities espouse polarized opinions as to the "correct" answer. I don’t believe there is any "one" answer to these questions. Rather, I take a non-dogmatic approach and help my clients explore:
(1) What published research exists on the topic, and what are the strengths and weakesses of the research? and
(2) For whom and under what circumstances is that option beneficial and when might it be detrimental?
Armed with a deeper understanding, my clients make informed choices that are right for them.
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What can I expect from our work together?
To begin our work together, I will ask you to send me detailed information about your health history, diagnosis, treatment plan, your diet and lifestyle, and a list of any medications and supplements you may be taking. Copies of your blood work and medical records are also helpful. Then I'll put together a written report (generally 75-95 pages) detailing evidence-based dietary strategies as well as nutritional and botanical supplements that are worthy of your consideration. This report educates you about foods, herbs, supplements and lifestyle changes that can complement your cancer treatments and help you optimize your health. It provides very detailed information about each agent, including the correct dose for you and when and how to take the products; information about possible side effects, contraindications or interactions with drugs; and recommendations for products with guaranteed purity and potency. In addition, the report teaches you about optional laboratory testing you may wish to obtain so that you can tailor your protocol to your individual needs. Lab testing allows us to discover which nutritional supplements and dietary changes will be most useful for you. Testing can also help us monitor the efficacy of your protocol. For example, if you are taking supplements to boost your immune function, specialized testing can be used to demonstrate that the supplements are effective.
This report - together with handouts, articles, recipes, menu ideas, product information and references - is mailed to you prior to your first appointment. You may choose to have your appointment via telephone or you may travel to Utah for an in-office appointment. During our consultation time together, I will review the report with you and answer any questions you may have. In the following weeks and months, we’ll monitor your progress and provide ongoing support. You are encouraged to share your written report with your oncologist, and to invite him/her to contact Dr. Wallace with any questions about your nutritional protocol.
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Will my insurance cover nutrition consulting?
Some insurance companies will cover nutritional consulting for cancer
patients if the services are requested by their doctor. However, I
do not bill insurance companies, and you will need to pay in advance
for my consulting services. Payment can be made via personal check,
money order, Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover card.
You may be able to obtain partial or full reimbursement by submitting
to your insurance company a copy of my invoice along with a referral
for nutrition consulting from your doctor.
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