I’m at a point in my life where my metabolism is at tortoise pace and it is difficult to maintain a healthy weight even with exercise and diet. And despite meditating almost everyday (sometimes, even twice a day), the mood swing struggle is real. I always thought it was a natural consequence of aging but hormones may be to blame. Hormones are the body’s messengers. If you’re experiencing fatigue, anxiety, weight gain or low libido, they may be the culprits.
It was serendipity that I met Dr. Cenia Lucas-Acevedo, European Double Board certified in Anti Aging in Nutritional Medicine (with distinction) because aging and hormonal imbalance are all new concepts to me (ugh). My family and I are firm believers of preventive medicine and learning about Health Optimization Medicine (HOMe) through her story about the problems she encountered with her son:
Dr. Cenia recalls events leading to this situation: “My first-born was a planned pregnancy that happened on my last year of training as obstetrician-gynecologist. You can only imagine how I hurdled sleep deprivation and satiety with high-fat, high-carbohydrate fast food with the physical and mental stress of impromptu presentations and taking care of patients in the busiest government hospital on Taft Avenue. My son was in my womb through all these. Then I gave birth. I was all excited to play mom but I didn’t have enough time to do it as I was still in residency. I didn’t even have the chance to breastfeed because I had to bounce back to being a doctor-in-training quickly.”
Training eventually ended and she started to play the mommy role as best as she could. “I am a doctor, right, so I should be able to give him the most nutritious food. Top of mind was dairy, of course—milk! And my son loved milk and cheese so I fed him what he loved most. He was a nice, sweet kid. As he grew, he started to get skin rashes which ointments and creams could not heal. His once competitive, funny, imaginative personality changed. To my surprise, he dropped out of school. Maybe because of … pressure? In high school?”
The Acevedos even brought their son to the US to seek treatment. “But the psychiatrists would just give him more and more drugs which made him miserable. The psychologists gave advice on modifying his behavior. That also never worked. I did not know then that the problem was biochemical imbalances.”
Looking back, Dr. Cenia believes all these problems that have piled up started from conception. “High levels of cortisol in stressed pregnant mothers can permanently alter the baby’s response to stress later in life. I missed out on breastfeeding which could have improved his immune system. And too much milk and dairy products may have inflamed his gut which resulted to poor gut absorption. Naturally, the other nutrients were not properly absorbed either which made my son unable to produce the needed healthy brain cells and hormones to make him an emotionally and psychologically well-balanced teenager.”
She learned of nutritional medicine and hormonal balancing from another mother whose daughter had a similar situation. Being a doctor, she was skeptical at first but knew she didn’t have a better option. They went for it.
Today, her son is fit, happy, and a dean’s lister at the University of the Philippines. “Best of all, he has been prescription medicine-free for almost four years now.”
Dr. Cenia Lucas-Acevedo says health balancing is crucial. Over the years, she has studied this emerging specialization that utilizes biochemistry, physiology and pharmacology. The primary goal is to maintain the balance between building cells and breaking them down as well. To do this, one has to undergo a series of medical consultations, biochemical/hormonal and toxin blood tests, and evaluation of results. Deficiencies are corrected through measured supplementation of nutrients and/or hormones that are customized according to the patient’s needs.
Dr. Cenia was trained and certified in Belgium for Anti-Aging Medicine and Nutritional Medicine, both with Distinction, and mentored by Dr. Theodore Achacoso (creator of Health Optimization Medicine). She believes that each person needs customized care as early as possible, as this gives a better chance to reverse, slow down or stop deficiencies. “All of us have deficiencies to some extent. For a person who feels well, the deficiency may not be felt as his metabolism is working double-time to compensate. Conventional medicine tests may not able to detect anything wrong at this early stage. Eventually, without correction, the metabolism’s ability to compensate is weakened, and symptoms of illness may start appearing.” Deficiencies are now being detected more frequently in young patients seeing her for depression, or even younger children with autism.
Dr. Cenia emphasizes that the correction of what’s ailing the patient goes beyond the organ level where conventional medicine is usually focused on. HOMe complements conventional medicine by working at the cellular level. During an active illness, HOMe takes care of your remaining healthy cells and helps
your sick cells recover faster while you are on prescription medicines.
“HOMe does not intend to replace conventional medicine. Conventional medicine has greatly reduced deaths due to infections and trauma. It has also made people live longer. However, chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease are on the rise despite people living longer. These diseases have resulted in poor quality of life. Health Span has to catch up with Lifespan. HOMe intends to help people achieve this.”
This medical specialization is close to home for Dr. Cenia because she has had first-hand experience. It helped her son regain mental equilibrium while losing 70 lbs! “At 19, my son was 210 lbs, had acne all over his face, had depression, developed obsessions, and dropped out of school. How could all that happen at such a young age?”
Dr. Cenia ends, “One has to know what his or her body needs. Taking too little of a nutrient may increase the risk of developing an ailment which you could have totally avoided. Same goes with excess. We have our soon to be opened clinic , Vivacite, Center for Scientific Wellness in BGC, where one can come in for personal assessment. We have a customized nutrient/hormonal program that gets to the bottom of things: what you have and what you need. Good health doesn’t just happen. It is a result of rearranging your lifestyle at the cellular level. Healthy cells inevitably translate to a more youthful, vital you. ”
Dra. Cenia Lucas Acevedo, European Double Board Certified in Anti Aging in Nutritional Medicine (with Distinction), she currently does home/office visits, Vivacite Center for Scientific Wellness Clinic opens later this year.
Dra. Cenia is currently doing home and office visits and that this option will continue even when Vivacite, Center for Scientific Wellness opens this year.
Private consultations with Dr. Cenia are done by appointment:
Tel. nos.: 02-42357302, 02-9684980
Mobile nos: (0917) 9684980 (you may also send a message via Viber); (0920) 823-8976
Email: clacevedopracto@gmail.com, clacevedovivacite@gmail.com