Optimum Vitality Blog

Fork Your Diet: It’s Never Too Late To ReClaim Your Health From the founders of SHAPE ReClaimed, Dr. Todd and Linda Frisch: We first met Drs. Mark and Michele Sherwood of the Functional Medical Institute when they were recommended to teach at our first SHAPE Symposium in November 2014. Dr. Mark lifted up our SHAPE…

Hair Loss And Hair Growth Most of you will find that your hair becomes significantly healthier during your SHAPE Program journey, but a small percentage will experience some loss or thinning. If this is happening to you, don’t be alarmed. Research shows that hair loss can occur during dramatic weight loss, such as some patients…

Food Facts and Cooking Tips: Apples What is an apple? A mystical or forbidden fruit? An album label who produced The Beatles’ first album? One of the biggest technology companies in the world? It’s all of the above, but let’s talk about the sweet edible fruit today. Did you know that there are approximately 7,500…

Don’t Give Up Just Because It’s Summer Dry skin brushing is a simple, time-honored therapy with big benefits. Because it takes just a few minutes a day, dry brushing is an easy, effective and oh-so-enjoyable way to get healthy, vibrant, glowing skin. And if that’s not enough to love, dry brushing also supports the body’s…

Don’t Give Up Just Because It’s Summer With summer comes beach vacations, family gatherings, pool parties, backyard barbecues and lots of reasons to veer from your SHAPE Program journey. We want to encourage you that just because it’s summer, don’t give up! While it may be more challenging to stay on track, especially while traveling,…

Daily Water Intake: How Much Is Right For Me? What should my daily water intake be? If you pose this question to five people, you’ll likely get five different answers. Half your body weight in ounces? Eight 8-oz. glasses? Only when you’re thirsty? Only during a meal? Never during a meal? Which guideline is correct?…

Revved Up: The Danger Of Energy Drinks Energy drinks are great! If you feel a little sluggish, just drink one, and you’ll feel much better. They’re no worse than a cup of coffee, right? WRONG. Energy drinks can be dangerous and have been known to send people to the hospital with serious health issues; some…

Change the Way You Think with Cognitive Behavior Therapy Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that initiates behavioral change by identifying, evaluating and responding to dysfunctional thoughts and beliefs. CBT includes several goal-oriented, structured and solution-focused techniques (reading, journaling, etc.) to help you learn new habits, improve your mood and change your…

Bibliotherapy: Healing Through Reading Bibliotherapy is the use of books to encourage healing, improve emotional wellness and treat mental disorders. The concept is not new. In ancient Greece, the library of Thebes was considered “a healing place for the soul.” In 1916, Atlantic Monthly published an article called “A Literary Clinic” where the author shares…

Better Balance With pH Concentrated Minerals As you may recall from your high school chemistry class, pH stands for “potential of hydrogen.” Simply put, it’s a measure of the relative acidity and alkalinity of a solution. Without getting too scientific, here’s what pH means for you and your body: The pH scale goes from 0…