Your nutritional status plays a major role in your health and overall well-being. Problems with malnutrition or excess weight can lead to serious complications and a decline in your overall health. At Princeton Endocrinology Associates in Princeton, New Jersey, the practitioners are certified in nutrition medicine to address a number of issues including nutritional deficiencies and excess body weight. To learn more about nutrition medicine, call the office or book your appointment online today.
Nutrition Medicine Q & A
What is nutrition medicine?
Proper nutrition is essential to maintaining good health. Your body relies on nutrients -- proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and water -- to carry out a variety of essential functions. Your nutrition plays a role in everything from bone health to brain and muscle function. Nutritional deficiencies compromise your body’s ability to carry out important processes.
In most cases, your body receives the nutrients it needs through your diet. A nutrient deficiency or malnutrition occurs when your body isn’t getting the nutrients it needs from your diet. Certain medical conditions like celiac disease or short bowel syndrome can affect your body’s ability to absorb nutrients.
Nutrient deficiencies can cause a number of symptoms including fatigue, dizziness, and weight loss. If you’re malnourished, the specialists at Princeton Endocrinology Associates can assess your condition and determine the best way to restore your health. As one way to treat nutritional deficiencies, the practice also offers at-home total parenteral nutrition.
What is at-home total parenteral nutrition (TPN)?
If you suffer from malnutrition, your doctor may recommend at-home total parenteral nutrition, which provides you with essential nutrients intravenously (IV). At-home TPN is typically a treatment for people who can’t absorb adequate nutrients or tolerate food by mouth.
There are a number of conditions, including Crohn's disease, short bowel syndrome, and ischemic bowel disease, that can affect your digestive system’s ability to absorb nutrients from the foods you eat.
To deliver your essential nutrients through total parenteral nutrition, your doctor inserts a thin, flexible catheter into a large vein in your chest. This surgical procedure is typically performed under anesthesia. The TPN solution is infused with the help of a pump, and provides your body’s nutritional needs.
What is the HMRⓇ Program?
The HMR Program is an award-winning medically based weight-loss program that helps participants achieve and maintain healthy weight loss. The goal of the HMR Program is to instill healthy life habits and reduce your risk of obesity-related health concerns, such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
HMR focuses on a structured diet and behavioral modification to reduce your caloric intake and help you develop healthy skills for long-term management of your weight.
Princeton Endocrinology Associates partners with you to meet your weight-loss goals and make healthy living a part of your everyday routine. The HMR Program offers weekly classes and individual coaching with a health educator that supports you throughout your weight-loss journey.
Once you meet your weight-loss goals, the team continues to help you build the right skills for successful long-term weight management. The HMR Program is ideal for anyone who wants to lose between 20 and 200 pounds.
Both undernutrition and overnutrition can contribute to ill health, but nutrition medicine can help with treating both ends of the spectrum. For excellence in nutrition care, make an appointment at Princeton Endocrinology Associates by phone or book online today.
