INTEGRATIVE & FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE INFO & ARTICLES

Stories, Science & Soulful Insights

Neural Therapy at Katallage Wellness Center
Shana Balaguera Shana Balaguera

Neural Therapy at Katallage Wellness Center

Neural Therapy is a medical injection system that identifies and treats disturbances in the body’s neurological control mechanisms—often referred to as “interference fields.” According to the North American Academy of Neural Therapy (NAANT), these interference fields can occur almost anywhere in the body, are often subtle, and are treated with small injections of dilute procaine or other local anesthetics with the goal of restoring healthy autonomic regulation.

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Spring Detox Support: What “Detoxification” Really Means (and How to Support It Safely)
Shana Balaguera Shana Balaguera

Spring Detox Support: What “Detoxification” Really Means (and How to Support It Safely)

This spring, Katallage Wellness is introducing a new Detox Pathway Support IV Series designed to nourish the body’s natural detoxification systems—not with extreme cleanses, but with targeted, evidence-informed support for the liver and antioxidant pathways. Detoxification is a daily biologic process, centered in the liver’s phase I and phase II pathways, which rely on key nutrients—especially B vitamins and specific amino acids—to safely process and eliminate metabolic byproducts, hormones, and environmental exposures. Our new IV includes NAC, glycine, glutathione (GSH), and a B-complex, and is offered as a 4-week series (once weekly) paired with the Renew Food Plan, a modified elimination-style nutrition plan that helps reduce inflammatory load, identify food triggers, and support gut-liver clearance. Plus, time with Shana our Dietitian certified through the Institute for Functional Medicine; she can hold your hand each step of the way. The goal is improved resilience—more stable energy, clearer thinking, better digestion, and reduced reactivity—through a structured, clinically guided spring reset.

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How environment, immune signaling, food triggers, and GI health can stack your “allergy load” — and what to do about it
Shana Balaguera Shana Balaguera

How environment, immune signaling, food triggers, and GI health can stack your “allergy load” — and what to do about it

Spring can raise the body’s total inflammatory burden—pollen exposure, sleep disruption, travel, alcohol/sugar at gatherings, and stress can combine into a “stacked” effect.

In clinic, we commonly see:

  • More congestion, headaches, brain fog 

  • Flare-ups of skin issues 

  • GI sensitivity or histamine-like symptoms 

  • Increased fatigue and reactive cravings 

This month we’re focusing on supportive foundations:

  • Regular sleep/wake timing 

  • Protein-forward breakfasts for stable glucose 

  • Hydration + electrolytes 

  • Strategic anti-inflammatory foods (omega-3s, herbs, bitter greens)

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Cooking With Your Circadian Rhythm: A Clinical Strategy to Improve Insulin Sensitivity
Shana Balaguera Shana Balaguera

Cooking With Your Circadian Rhythm: A Clinical Strategy to Improve Insulin Sensitivity

For years, nutrition conversations have focused primarily on what we eat. Increasingly, clinical research shows that when we eat plays a significant and independent role in metabolic health.

This article dives into how the human physiology follows a circadian rhythm; an internal 24-hour clock that regulates hormone secretion, glucose metabolism, digestive efficiency, mitochondrial activity, and insulin responsiveness.

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Neural Therapy and Advanced Cardiovascular Testing: A Systems-Based Approach to Vascular Health
Shana Balaguera Shana Balaguera

Neural Therapy and Advanced Cardiovascular Testing: A Systems-Based Approach to Vascular Health

Cardiovascular disease is often reduced to a discussion about cholesterol. Yet decades of research have made it clear that atherosclerosis is not merely a lipid-storage disorder but a dynamic process driven by vascular inflammation, oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, thrombosis biology, and autonomic nervous system imbalance.

In this article we can dive into - how can precision advanced testing and treating the autonomic nervous system improve cardiac outcomes?

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Looking Beyond Cholesterol: Measuring What Truly Drives Cardiovascular Risk
Shana Balaguera Shana Balaguera

Looking Beyond Cholesterol: Measuring What Truly Drives Cardiovascular Risk

February is nationally recognized as Heart Health Month — a time to reflect on the true drivers of cardiovascular disease and, more importantly, how we can prevent it.

For decades, standard cholesterol panels have been used to assess risk. While helpful, traditional markers such as total cholesterol and LDL alone do not fully capture an individual’s cardiovascular risk. Many patients with “normal cholesterol” still experience cardiac events. Why is this you ask? Because heart disease is far more complex than a single cholesterol number. Read our article to learn more.

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Exerkines, Neurodegeneration, and Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy: A clinically grounded approach to brain health
Shana Balaguera Shana Balaguera

Exerkines, Neurodegeneration, and Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy: A clinically grounded approach to brain health

This article explores how exercise supports brain health through exerkines—powerful signaling molecules that improve insulin sensitivity, reduce inflammation, and enhance mitochondrial function and neuroplasticity. It also explains how combining structured movement with Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy can create a synergistic, clinically grounded approach to protecting the brain, supporting cognitive resilience, and addressing neurodegeneration at its metabolic roots.

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Mood, Metabolism, and the GABA–Glutamate Balance
Shana Balaguera Shana Balaguera

Mood, Metabolism, and the GABA–Glutamate Balance

This article explores how the balance between GABA and glutamate, nutrition, metabolism, and inflammation directly influences mental health. Discover why anxiety and depression are not only emotional, but also metabolic, and how food, key nutrients, and ketogenic approaches can help restore brain stability from the ground up.

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How does information from the FOURIER study stack up against preventive lifestyle interventions?
Shana Balaguera Shana Balaguera

How does information from the FOURIER study stack up against preventive lifestyle interventions?

This article reviews the ongoing debate in cardiovascular prevention—medications versus lifestyle—through the lens of the FOURIER trial and a subsequent BMJ Open reanalysis that questioned how mortality data were classified and reported. Using this controversy as a teachable moment, it highlights the importance of evaluating therapies by their impact on “hard outcomes” (heart attack, stroke, hospitalization, and mortality), not biomarkers alone, and of understanding absolute risk reduction and data transparency.

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Saturday Brain Wellness Class (90 minutes)
Shana Balaguera Shana Balaguera

Saturday Brain Wellness Class (90 minutes)

Katallage Wellness Center is pleased to announce a new weekly movement and brain-health class, hosted every Saturday 90 minutes by clinician Adolfo Valhuerdi. This class integrates evidence-informed movement, rhythm, and mind–body practices designed to support neuroplasticity, emotional regulation, and long-term brain vitality.

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Why Your Body Clock Matters for Blood Sugar, Blood Pressure, and Heart Health
Shana Balaguera Shana Balaguera

Why Your Body Clock Matters for Blood Sugar, Blood Pressure, and Heart Health

Key insights from an AHA Scientific Statement in Circulation on circadian health and cardiometabolic risk. The article explains how our internal 24-hour “body clock” coordinates metabolism, hormone signaling, digestion, and cardiovascular function—and why we tend to be less insulin sensitive later in the day, making late eating more likely to worsen post-meal glucose control.

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Rethinking Parkinson's Disease — A New Era of Individualized Neurological Care

Rethinking Parkinson's Disease — A New Era of Individualized Neurological Care

A groundbreaking rethinking of Parkinson’s disease reveals two distinct subtypes—body-first and brain-first—paving the way for earlier detection, targeted therapies, and individualized care through the lens of gut-brain science and integrative medicine.

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How the Artificial Sweetener Sucralose Can Disrupt Your Brain–Gut Balance

How the Artificial Sweetener Sucralose Can Disrupt Your Brain–Gut Balance

Sucralose may seem like a harmless calorie-free sweetener, but new research reveals it can disrupt gut bacteria, inflame the brain’s hunger center, and impair appetite control—undermining metabolic health and weight goals.

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Measuring Bone Resorption for Osteoporosis

Measuring Bone Resorption for Osteoporosis

Urine testing for collagen cross-linked N-telopeptide (NTx) offers a valuable tool for assessing bone resorption and treatment response—providing insight beyond what a DEXA scan can reveal about bone quality and fracture risk.

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