{"id":4830,"date":"2023-09-26T08:14:59","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T12:14:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naturalhealthcarecenter.com\/?p=4830"},"modified":"2023-09-25T21:43:29","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T01:43:29","slug":"from-a-life-altering-diagnosis-to-a-new-career-filled-with-inspiration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naturalhealthcarecenter.com\/from-a-life-altering-diagnosis-to-a-new-career-filled-with-inspiration\/","title":{"rendered":"From a Life-Altering Diagnosis to a New Career Filled with Inspiration"},"content":{"rendered":"

Danielle Arnold and her husband, Kevin, thought they were doing just about everything possible to live healthier lives. Both were athletes and had committed to a vegan diet for about eight years.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were kind of novices when we first went vegan,\u201d Danielle recalls. \u201cI had been an athlete and basically ate whatever I wanted. When we switched from junk food to a vegan diet and continued to exercise, we felt great. Then, one day, my husband said he couldn\u2019t see out of his left eye.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Danielle took Kevin to the hospital and started going from doctor to doctor. An optometrist suspected he was suffering from optic neuritis, a condition marked by inflammation of the optic nerve that often causes vision loss. Optic neuritis is also associated with multiple sclerosis (MS),<\/span> a chronic autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks nerve fibers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

An appointment with a neurologist and an MRI confirmed the optic neuritis and MS diagnoses. Kevin had lost about 80 percent of the vision in his left eye. At one point, he was heat intolerant and relied on wearing a cooling vest and taking ice baths to get through summer days in New Mexico.<\/span><\/p>\n

Danielle and Kevin both went back to school to better understand physiology, biochemistry, and nutrition<\/a>. They wanted to learn how lifestyle change and nutritional interventions could promote healing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They decided to follow the Wahls Protocol, a nutritional approach developed by Dr. Terry Wahls, a physician who developed the protocol to manage her own MS symptoms and famously \u201cate her way out of a wheelchair.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Similar to the paleo diet, the Wahls Protocol emphasizes nutrient-rich whole foods, supplements, and the elimination of processed foods, gluten, dairy, sugar, and other products that could trigger inflammation or autoimmune reactions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was reading up on this and was like, \u2018Oh my gosh, they want us to eat organ meats and fish,\u2019\u201d Danielle said. \u201cBut we did our research and followed a diet centered on the Wahls Protocol, and Kevin started to get better.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They were seeing a neurologist at the time for MS treatment. They grew frustrated that the neurologist was strongly recommending prescription medication but couldn\u2019t explain the mechanisms of how it would help Kevin\u2019s condition.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe neurologist basically said, \u2018I\u2019m a medical doctor. If you don\u2019t take this medication, you\u2019re no longer my patient and you\u2019ll end up in a wheelchair,\u2019\u201d Danielle said. \u201cHe was basically trying to scare my husband into taking medication.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kevin decided to continue with the nutritional protocol and never took the medication. Six years later, his eyesight is back to normal and he\u2019s feeling great.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Danielle realized that a strictly vegan diet isn\u2019t always best. She became immersed in functional medicine<\/a> and earned her master\u2019s degree in Human Clinical Nutrition and Integrative Health from Maryland University of Integrative Health.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I was in school, I was living with a friend who had a newborn and was diagnosed with breast cancer,\u201d Danielle said. \u201cI was helping with meals and taking care of the baby so she could get through treatments. The experiences with my friend and my husband really inspired me to help people with cancer and autoimmunity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Another major influence while studying for her master\u2019s degree was one of her professors \u2013 Dr. Oscar Coetzee<\/a>, PhD, DCN, Director of Clinical Nutrition at Natural Healthcare Center.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI learned that there\u2019s more to nutrition than nourishing through food,\u201d Danielle said. \u201cThere\u2019s nourishing through movement, and nourishing through relationships. It\u2019s all part of the integrative approach to a healthy lifestyle. And Dr. Coetzee didn\u2019t play softball. I remember him telling me exactly what protocol would work and why it would work, period. I really appreciate and respect his approach and mindset.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While learning from Dr. Coetzee, Danielle discovered Natural Healthcare Center<\/a>. She was amazed by the scope of services under one roof and loved the integrative, functional medicine-based approach to care. She knew she wanted to part of the team one day.<\/span><\/p>\n

Danielle joined Natural Healthcare Center in the summer of 2023 as a clinical nutritionist.<\/span><\/p>\n

She still has a passion for helping people with autoimmune disorders and cancer, focusing on gut microbiome health. She also specializes in treating people with Lyme disease, mold-related conditions, long Covid, and hormonal imbalances.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Proodian is so passionate and you see it in our patients,\u201d Danielle said. \u201cThey take their health seriously and commit 100 percent to the nutritional protocols we recommend. I love seeing people improve their quality of life and tell everyone they know to come see us. This is how healthcare should work. It\u2019s very rewarding.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Danielle Arnold and her husband, Kevin, thought they were doing just about everything possible to live healthier lives. Both were athletes and had committed to a vegan diet for about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[181,43,4,189,136],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalhealthcarecenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4830"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalhealthcarecenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalhealthcarecenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalhealthcarecenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalhealthcarecenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4830"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/naturalhealthcarecenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4837,"href":"https:\/\/naturalhealthcarecenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4830\/revisions\/4837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalhealthcarecenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalhealthcarecenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalhealthcarecenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalhealthcarecenter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}