It depends on your goals and symptoms. The minimum is two weeks. If you have mild/moderate toxicity symptoms then I suggest four weeks. If you have a severe condition, you should detox for eight weeks the first time. A lot depends on your reaction to the detox. I have seen significant changes in people with severe symptoms in as early as two weeks. So, if you have a quick reaction then you will probably do four weeks and, if not, you may have to do eight. Two weeks is usually enough for general preventative health.

You will not be fasting or drinking some exotic mixture. You will eat real food with a emphasis on fresh, organic fruits and vegetables. You will be able to even eat meats, with some restrictions. You will receive easy to understand guidelines with your package. The important thing to remember is that the detox is not a calorie restricted weight loss program. You need calories for your body to perform proper detoxification.

This is a hard one to answer because some people have little reaction and some feel almost flu-like. The latter is rare, but it does happen. The most common reaction is increased fatigue and headaches for the first week. Rarely will you have to alter your day because of detox reactions. You will receive instructions on how to proceed with the detox if you become ill.

For general preventative health I suggest detoxing every six months. I perform a detox in January and July. If you are having mild symptoms you may need to repeat the detox every four months for the first year. Those with more severe symptoms may be advised to continue the detox in some fashion for an extended number of months. I will give those with severe symptoms guidance on an individual basis.

The most commonly perceived benefit is an increase in energy. Keep in mind that the main goal of detoxification is to better equip your body to rid itself of toxins. There is no perceived benefit from this, specifically. However, symptoms reduction is very common across the board. Other than a reduction in fatigue, the most commonly reported benefits are decreased whole body pain, decreased swelling (especially in joints), headache resolution, clearer thinking, and generally increased well being.

I am pretty good at getting back to my emails depending upon my patient load and the amount of emails I receive. I do not answer on Sundays. In general, if we have had a consult and you email in the evening expect a reply the next day. If you email me during the day expect a reply that evening or the next morning. Of course there are exceptions but I realize that you are emailing me because of a concern you have for your health and I do not take that for granted. If we have not had a consult please feel free to email me. I will respond but just know that I respond to those with whom I am actively working first.

If you have digestive symptoms then it is a good idea to do a digestive cleanse first followed by a internal detox. If digestion is not a major factor choose the internal detox over the digestive detox. Keep in mind that you can perform an internal detox and buy a few of the digestive detox supplements to target some of your digestive problems. You can either email Dr. Zimmer or look under the Digestive Health section of this site for suggestions.

Let me answer this with another couple of questions. Are children exposed to the general everyday toxins found in our lives? The answer is YES they are. Do children eat good amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables which promote natural detoxification? The answer is NO they do not. So I do think it is a good idea to have children detox. I would suggest starting when they are old enough to swallow pills. Please contact me if you would like guidelines and dosages.

Yes, you can. It may be important for you to continue on with a few of the supplements found in the protocol depending on your condition. You can order these through our On-Line Store.

Functional Medicine is a term which describes an approach to health care that tries to find the real causes to a health concern, instead of simply focusing on relieving the symptom.  Many natural health doctors do no better than traditional medicine in that they prescribe large quantities of supplements with the hope of chasing away symptoms. I call this practicing “Green Pharmacy”.  Basically, instead of prescribing a drug for a symptom they prescribe a supplement. This approach has limited value. The approach taken in Functional Medicine is to investigate the problems in body system function and to prescribe protocols which support a normalization (or balancing) of those systems.  Many doctors are finally embracing this logical and scientific approach to health care. Unlike many practitioners who have just recently started learning this approach, Dr. Zimmer has practiced Functional Medicine for over 15 years!

We do use a number of tests including heavy metal hair/urine analysis, DNA stool analysis, neurotransmitter urine testing, serum vitamin D testing, Iodine testing, hormone testing, gluten sensitivity testing, food sensitivity testing, and others. If we decide that doing one of these tests is important, we will give you direction on how to get them done. However, it is very important for you to understand that it is not always imperative to complete expensive testing to get a good idea of what direction to take to improve your health. If your symptoms and history clearly indicate a leaky gut, for example, it does not make good sense to order an expensive stool analysis to verify what we already strongly suspect. Thus, we will suggest testing if we feel that the results will give us vital information that we cannot get from other sources.

Most of the patients we see have been to multiple doctors and other nutritionists. The main difference with our consult is that we will investigate and try to identify the real problems of your symptoms. This is an involved process that takes lots of thought and an amount of commitment on our part that, frankly, most are unwilling to give you. Keep in mind that we absolutely guarantee that you will be satisfied with your consult. If we are unable to give you new direction in your search for health, we will not charge you for our time.

Simply email me. My goal is to work with you toward better health and I understand that this will not occur overnight. I will never charge you for a follow-up question after your initial appointment. The only time you will be charged is if we agree that a follow-up phone appointment is necessary.

We offer the highest quality supplements at below retail prices as a service to our patients. You should read the Why Buy From Us portion of our site to gain a better understanding of what we offer. My goal during a consultation is to give you direction and information. You can decide to get your supplements from any source. My feelings are never hurt if you decide to not get the supplements I suggest from us.

You sure can. I am happy to answer general questions regarding supplements and your health. However, if a proper answer on my part becomes too involved to handle by email, a nutritional consult will be advised.

No. All of our detoxification protocols come with complete instructions on how to perform the detox. Questions you may have after you get the protocol can be answered via email at no charge.

Almost never. We can supply you with the needed paperwork to file with your insurance company, but good luck in getting it covered.

If we are doing a consult for your general health and that of your family members, we will have no problem covering this information in a typical 30 minute consult. We will even be able to address specific concerns you may have with the different members of your family. If, however, anyone has a very involved case we may not be able to cover everything in our allotted time. I will let you know if I think that you should make a separate appointment in that case.