Digestive enzyme production decreases as you age due to the deteriorating state of your organs. This makes diet and nutrition very important for your body because you lose absorption of protein, iron, iodine, vitamin B12, folic acid, zinc, calcium, magnesium, and other important minerals. Poor diets consisting of processed foods that lack nutrients can also diminish digestive enzyme production. Ultimately, HCl deficiencies can lead to an overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria and fungus is the intestinal tract, which results in many gastrointestinal symptoms and potentially long-term health challenges, conditions, and diseases. However, you can maintain normal levels of digestive enzymes by chewing thoroughly, eating a variety of raw foods, and possibly supplementing with digestive enzymes.

Do you need to lose weight? Are you an athlete wanting to improve your performance? Maybe you just want to eat a little better and don’t know where to start. Whatever your nutritional needs, Zen Health Center can provide you with the information and support that get results.

Dr. Zen knows that the best, most reliable way to meet your health goals depends upon a good diet and exercise routine. The word “diet” doesn’t mean the latest fad or a long list of things not to eat and exercise doesn’t necessarily mean running or joining a gym. Diet is a way of eating and exercise means getting your body moving. Diet and exercise should be sustainable in the long-term. If you can’t follow a weight loss diet everyday for the rest of your life, it’s not sustainable. If you don’t choose a physical activity for exercise you don’t enjoy, it’s not sustainable either. Let us help you find the right nutritional balance and physical activity to help you meet your health goals.

Weekly Tips:

Vitamin D levels May Be Associated with Low Back Pain. 
Blood samples taken from 600 participants with either chronic low back pain, sub-acute low back pain, or no history of back pain showed no significant difference in the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among the three groups. However, the researchers did observe that the men and women in both of the back pain groups were more likely to have greater levels of vitamin D deficiency, which suggests that severe vitamin D deficiency may play a role in the development of low back pain. As a result, future guidelines for the management of back pain may include vitamin D testing and treatment.
Clinical Rheumatology, August 2017

How are we different?

The Western approach to health tends to emphasize purging the body of harmful elements and the traditional Chinese approach tend to focus on adding nutrients. Dr. Zen’s unique background in both cultures allows him to integrate both approaches into his practice. In our office, you truly get the best of both worlds.

Dr. Zen has found that patients respond much more quickly when their nutrition comes from the food they eat. However, it is often not practical or possible to eat the recommended amounts of these foods. To solve this problem, Dr. Zen provides supplements to his patients which are made from food. These supplements are produced by Standard Process, a company with a long history of providing high quality supplements which are not artificially or synthetically created. Because of the potency of these products, they are only supplied to heath care professionals and should not be used without first consulting a professional like Dr. Zen. For more information on whole food nutrition and Standard Process, we recommend you watch the short video below:

The First Step

Don’t know where to start? Hit a plateau in your weight loss or athletic goals? There’s an easy first step we recommend; a 21day purification using whole food, supplements, and monitoring by Dr. Zen. The purification products are produced by Standard Process and are available in our office. To learn more about the purification program, visit the Standard Process Purification page.

The purification program addresses many of the complaints patients often voice regarding their health and so it is the best place to begin. After completing the purification, or if it’s not for you, Dr. Zen can provide specific nutritional support for your specific health needs.

A New Outlook

One of the effects of the purification program is its ability to change the kinds of foods you crave and the types of activities you feel compelled to engage in. Eating healthy stops being a chore and quickly becomes a habit. Because you have more energy, you feel the need to get up and go! However, because each person’s body is different, you need specialized advice on what nutrients you’re not getting from your diet and which exercises would benefit your body the most. Dr. Zen can provide this advice and closely monitor your results to ensure you get a maximum benefit for your efforts.

Maintenance

After completing the purification program, you’ll notice positive changes not only in your weight and energy, but in your eating habits as well. However, the results can diminish over time and your body needs maintenance. Just like regularly changing the fluids in your car keeps everything running smoothly and extends the life of your engine, regularly completing the purification program helps keep your body in tip top shape. We recommend patients repeat the purification program at least once every six months.

Athletic Events

If you are interested in marathons, running groups, or other athletic events in Honolulu, we recommend reviewing Hawaii Sport Magazine’s upcoming events for local athletic fun. They are a great exercise resource and update their event calendar frequently. Please consult your current primary health care provider or Dr. Zen before starting any exercise program.

If you have any questions about our services, please contact us today at (808) 599-2700.

如何讀懂維他命成份標籤

大量的營養補充品充斥着消費市場, 人們在選擇中猶豫不決. 哪一個才是最好的? 有些營養品生產公司為了提高利潤, 在營養品的質量和貨架期限上做換算, 他們寧可降低質量, 提高含量來打入市場. 這使消費者退而求其次, 只通過比較市場的佔有率, 從而給營養品的質量定位. 反而忽略了營養品對身體的實際作用.

讀成份標籤

首先將你的維他命營養品拿出來, 新的營樣品標示標籤讓人更加難以確定什麼是健康的成分, 什麼不是. 早期的標籤(現在市場上仍然存在)告知你更加正確的信息. 在成分欄 (ingredient), 會注明是合成加工的, 分次的提煉的, 或者是食物提取的. 現在, 在新版的標籤上, 你就要找營養成分欄 (Nutrition Facts). 那裡列出了營養成分, 看它所附帶的標示, 例如: Vitamin A (as beta carotene), “as” 之後的如果不是食物名稱, 那麼就往往是合成的化學營養成分. 我們購買天然的營養品就應該找標籤上顯示食物的營養補充品. 所以, 舉例來說, 我們不應該選購顯示”Vitamin C (as ascorbic acid)”, 而應該選擇標籤顯示”Vitamin C (from acerola cherries)”.

不用理會”Nature”(天然) Honolulu

‘天然’不表示任何意義. 大多數的營養品都說是純天然, 其實廠家只不過在玩文字遊戲, 他們用”not synthetic (非合成)/ fractionated(分次的)”來誤导消費者.

不要輕信廣告宣傳

沒有一家廠商會告訴消費者他們的產品不好. 廣告會誘導你相信他們的產品是你用到現在最好的, 所以在購買營養品的時候不能單方面相信廣告. 越夸夸奇談產品的好處, 越有質疑的可能性.

了解分次的營養品(fractionated nutrition)

分次的維他命(fractionated vitamin)表示加工過的”天然”維他命, 通常是為了讓成份更加穩定. 舉例來說, 大多數的維他命E以”d-alph tocopherol”形式出售. D-alph tocopherol和摻雜物並不是真正的維他命E, 它只是複合維他命E的一個分次. 維他命E含有alpha, beta, gamma, delta tocopherol, ‘E-factors’, ‘F-factors’, selenium, xanthine 和 lipositols. D-Alph tocopherol僅僅是維他命E的一個成份而已, 所提供的作用完全不足以代替