Interview with Dr. Sara Barrera, comprehensive and functional pediatrician.

Welcome to our blog, today we want to focus on helping parents and health professionals to better understand the ins and outs of children's health and to do so we have Dr. Sara Barrera, a comprehensive and functional pediatrician who, in addition to offering her patients comprehensive solutions, has been using fulvic and humic acid supplements for years, with great success.

We are honored to have the support of such dedicated professionals as Dr. Sara, and to be able to bring this knowledge and tools to many more people.

Hello Sara, tell us : Who are you and what specialty do you do?

I am Sara, a doctor specializing in Pediatrics and Functional Medicine. I offer Pediatrics and Integrative Medicine consultations and programs that focus on improving the health and well-being of children and adults. For years I have used fulvic and humic acid in my own healing process and accompanying adult patients from the functional medicine approach, observing good results in reducing toxemia.

The vast majority of parents come to us to start a treatment to cleanse heavy metals from the body. Is heavy metal poisoning something that any parent should take into account? What percentage of children could we say is at risk of having high levels of heavy metal toxicity?

There are no studies that evaluate exact figures of the levels of toxicity due to heavy metals in children, but there is a lot of literature that indicates that children are born with high concentrations of toxic substances when the concentration of these in the umbilical cord is evaluated. The reality is that children are exposed to environmental toxicity that, unfortunately, continues to increase exponentially. They are also more vulnerable because their tissues and organs are in full growth and development. In general, children play with the advantage of coming into the world with open drainage and detoxification systems and channels and with a load on their systems obviously lower than that of an adult who has been in this world for x years. I like to explain to parents that we all come into this world with a bucket that has a capacity, content and drainage capacity that is different for each individual. The moment this bucket fills up, we begin to observe symptoms that are what we classify as diseases. The relationship between toxic load and capacity to detoxify is bidirectional, with the finding of mutations in genes involved in detoxification being more frequent in highly toxic individuals.

What is the biggest health problem(s) children face today?

The reason for consultation in Pediatrics varies depending on the age of the patient, but the main cause of pediatric consultation is infections, which are closely influenced not only by epidemiological factors (viruses and other pathogens circulating), but by the maturity and state of the system. immune. The immune system, in turn, is closely related to the state of regulation of the autonomic nervous system and, of course, is influenced by the nutritional status and toxic load of the body.

In general terms, do you think that parents have the knowledge and information to offer adequate nutrition to their children; Or are the vast majority uninformed and trying to solve problems without really understanding in depth what is happening?

Increasingly, I establish therapeutic relationships with families aware of the importance of nutrition as a pillar for well-being. From my point of view, due to the excess of contradictory information about nutrition that currently exists on social networks, there is a lot of confusion in this area. Although there are general recommendations supported by scientific studies in Functional Medicine, the reality is that we are unique in our nutritional needs, so for me it is important to individualize each case and be able to offer a nutritional plan that adjusts not only to the biological needs of each person. patient but also his spiritual beliefs and preferences.

What are some common misconceptions parents have about their children's health?

I believe that one of the approaches that causes the most suffering in families is not being able to trust the wisdom of the body and wanting to treat or eliminate symptoms quickly without wondering why and why the symptom is appearing. My view is that the body is continually working to bring us to balance and homeostasis and that symptoms are messages intended to alert us that there is a conflict in our systems that is asking for attention to be resolved from the root.

What are some tools or supplements that you use most often in your practice?

My strategy is to remove the toxic from the environment, open the detoxification channels, regulate the nervous system (this step is FUNDAMENTAL to be able to detoxify, repair and heal), and finally stimulate the body's detoxification processes and help elimination with " binders". Supplements are a great tool in the process but they will never be able to replace all of the above.

My focus is on educating families to live cleaner (eliminate toxicity from their lives) with practices that allow them to be connected to pleasure. This is important so that the changes are sustainable and can become easy habits to implement in their lives. Cleaning our environment involves looking at what we eat, how we eat it, and how we relate to food. It implies committing to hydration with clean water and evaluating the quality of the air we breathe. It involves replacing the products we use in our homes to clean with less toxic options and using more organic clothing materials, etc... It is important to evaluate the quality of our interpersonal relationships and see what behavioral patterns are proving toxic and non-nutritious. There are many aspects to work on depending on the individual needs of each family.

Once the source of toxicity is removed, many patients will improve with this measure alone. Others will need to be evaluated for their ability to detoxify by analyzing the state of their detoxification channels and their genetics so that we can support these systems. There are supplements and nutrients that will be able to optimize the different phases of detoxification of the liver and that will be able to improve the elimination of toxins through the colon, the lymphatic and renal systems. The use of "binders", among my favorites fulvic and humic acids, is of great help to reduce the toxic load (among many other wonderful functions) but for these to do their job of extracting toxins from the body, we cannot forget to make sure that the exit doors of the body are open.

How important is detoxification therapy and what role can fulvic and humic acids play in this process?

Supporting the detoxification of the body is supporting the proper functioning of all our systems. We cannot forget that this is a process for which the body is naturally designed and for which we are also increasingly inefficient due to the overload of toxins that we are continually receiving from our environment. My perspective is that environmental toxicity in conjunction with the deregulation of our nervous systems, are the perfect substrate for the development of chronic diseases when faced with a stimulus or trigger. From my point of view, chronic disease occurs as a result of this triad: Trauma/Nervous system in survival response-Toxicity-Trigger that causes inflammation in the system.

Answering directly to your question, detoxification is usually a fundamental strategy in the healing process and disease prevention. Over the years I have used many types of binders with fulvic and humic acids being my preferred options at the moment. The reason for this is that these substances not only trap toxins more selectively than other substances, but also exchange toxins for essential minerals for proper cell physiology (they clean and nourish at the same time). In addition, different studies suggest that fulvic and humic acids contribute to cell and tissue oxygenation and that they are great nutrients for the mitochondria, which is responsible for energy production at the cellular level.

Have you observed any significant improvements in the health of your patients after the use of fulvic and humic acids and, if so, what have they been?

Yes, I have used them for years on my own body and on adult patients with clear positive results in the pathogen eradication and detoxification processes. My experience with its use is mainly in adults but on a personal level (there are no studies that support its use in children) I consider that its use at adjusted doses in children, as long as the detoxification channels are open, is safe. Again, I think it is important to individualize each case and closely observe each patient's response.

What advice would you give to parents who want to adopt fulvic acid as a supplement to take a more holistic approach to their children's health?

I am a great advocate of a parent's sovereignty and deeply trust their intuition when creating therapeutic plans. Now, the path of sovereignty requires that we assume responsibility. My advice is that if you feel safe using these natural medicines on your own, go for it. And if you don't feel safe, I would advise you to ask for help and support from trusted professionals who have experience using these supplements. The reality is that, in order to recommend the use of fulvic and humic acids with firmness and scientific rigor, we should carry out studies that evaluate their efficacy and safety in the pediatric population. Unfortunately this is not in the interest of the pharmaceutical industry. I am confident that little by little awareness will creep into these sectors and that we can find subsidies for this type of much-needed study.

Finally, if you wish, you could provide us with how our clients can contact you to make a query:

I currently offer my service through different online platforms, patients can contact me at my email: dr.sarabarrera@gmail.com

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