Testimonials
"I have known Dr. Kalish for many years and have observed him working with patients. Dr. Kalish's method of individualizing hormone replacement therapy based on a thorough evaluation of key hormonal systems is scientifically sound, and his preference for treating people with natural substances rather than prescription drugs makes sense."
"Dr. Kalish is a trusted healthcare provider whose approach to natural hormone replacement is far ahead of its time. His emphasis on diet, lifestyle and nutrition — especially the importance of raw foods — coincide with the work I've been doing for the last fifty years."
"I always say first, that without question, Dr. Kalish is a healer. He is a healing person, unlike anyone I've ever known. He "feels" healthy, balanced, energetic, thoughtful and caring. He also teaches me, so that I am empowered to make healthy choices for myself (and share with others.)"
"I first met Dr. Dan Kalish in California around the mid 90s. We were both attending a functional medicine seminar in San Diego to better take care of patients. There were some extraordinary people there but I instantly developed a rapport with Dr. Kalish as he was very bright and had a gentle, kind, caring and patient personality that impressed me."It was very clear to me at that time that he was one of the brightest guys at the meeting, and I was very enamored by his logical and sound approach to health."
"In 1994 my bloodwork showed anti-thyroid antibodies. I had started to gain weight but was not able to lose any, so I was put on Synthroid. From 1994 - February 2004 there were VERY FEW TIMES that I didn't feel effects from being either hyper- or hypo- thyroid.
"A couple of weeks after my first Dr. Kalish phone consult I started having consistent, good energy levels. I have not had any more hypothyroid symptoms, the Synthroid became unnecessary (it gave me hyperthyroid symptoms), cholesterol and triglyceride levels greatly improved, even what I call "hormone craziness" (PMS/perimenopause symptoms) has not been a problem. It is not as intense, cravings for cookies stopped, and I even lost 20 pounds!!!! All the office support has been kind and encouraging, and it is awesome to have a doctor that is so knowledgeable and who LISTENS and who RESPECTS individual differences and can even explain them!!!"
Dr. Kalish:
Jane, a patient of mine, experienced a very typical diagnosis-process of someone who is gluten intolerant. She had been experiencing common symptoms of gluten intolerance (digestive problems) for years and had been to several gastroenterologists who were unable to resolve the problem. She was told she had irritable bowel syndrome. In addition to the digestive problems she was also experiencing unexplained fatigue, muscle and joint pain, and emotional discomfort that caused her to feel irritable and unable to cope with mental and emotional stress.Jane:
I became a lawyer when I was thirty-five and shortly after that I started noticing certain health issues I had never experienced before. I never was one to exercise regularly. I was always more concerned with studying and then after that, working; however, I did lead what I thought to be a healthy lifestyle. I went to law school in New York, so I walked a lot and always remained slim because of that. After I got my first job with a law firm I noticed my health felt very different. I felt tired all the time, I was very stressed and emotional, and my body hurt. I associated all of this with my stressful, sedentary job as a lawyer. Then I started experiencing digestive problems, so I started going to gastroenterologists. I went to about four without any improvement in my health. That's when I heard about Dr. Kalish. I didn't really know what to expect from him. At that point I was convinced I had irritable bowel syndrome and the only thing I was really hoping for was an alternative treatment than I had been receiving from the medical doctors.Dr. Kalish:
The first thing Jane told me during her initial phone consultation was that she had irritable bowel syndrome and it was causing her to feel anxious and easily aggravated. As soon as she said that, I knew that we needed to look closely at her and her family's health history, because irritable bowel syndrome is often a clear misdiagnosis of gluten intolerance.Jane:
At first I was taken aback because one of the first things Dr. Kalish asked me about was my family descent. While this is a perfectly fine question for a friend to ask, I wasn't sure what it had to do with my irritable bowel syndrome. Dr. Kalish explained that there is a genetic condition called gluten intolerance that can cause many of the symptoms I was experiencing.Dr. Kalish:
Jane let me know that her family came from Sweden and Ireland. Anyone descended from a Northern European country has an elevated probability of being gluten intolerant. Additionally, she told me that her father was an alcoholic, which also raised her chances of being gluten intolerant. Jane had been a vegetarian since college and had been living off grains, vegetables, and soy products. I let her know that there was a high probability that her health problems were being caused by a genetic gluten intolerance and that her tendency to eat a grain-heavy diet was just one more symptom of this. I recommended that she go off gluten for sixty days so that we could observe her body's reaction. I explained to her that often people who are gluten intolerant will experience symptoms of withdrawal at first, much like a drug addict going clean, and that this is normal.Jane:
When Dr. Kalish first told me to stop eating gluten-containing foods, I have to admit I panicked. As a vegetarian I relied on large amounts of grains to survive, but I was willing to try anything. I followed Dr. Kalish's guidelines and ate no gluten-containing grains and actually started eating chicken and fish again. Dr. Kalish told me that a healthy diet needs to be centered around protein, vegetables, healthy fat, and acceptable carbohydrates (meaning gluten-free). It was difficult at first, but after a few weeks I started to feel different. My digestive problems became less and less acute as I stayed gluten-free, and I also noticed that my stress level and emotions were feeling more balanced and I wasn't as irritable as I had been.Dr. Kalish:
Jane went off gluten and noticed extreme changes in her overall health. When we had her consume gluten after her initial two months of being gluten-free, she noticed that her old health complaints returned and she felt muscle weakness, fatigue, and irritability all over again. This was enough to determine that Jane was extremely gluten intolerant and that it was vitally important for her to remain off gluten in order to experience a healthful lifestyle. Had we not discovered Jane's genetic intolerance, she would likely have developed hormonal imbalances during perimenopause directly related to this problem.Jane:
It's been four years since I became gluten-free and I feel great. I have none of the initial symptoms that I went to Dr. Kalish with. I find that I have more energy and that my head is less clouded by stress and emotions. And best of all, I no longer blame my career for causing my health concerns!
Lori:
I grew up in a Jewish-American family. My father owned a bakery and we actually lived in an apartment above it. Needless to say, my sister and I grew up on baked goods. We were literally living and breathing them. The smell of fresh-baked bread would waft up into our apartment early in the morning. Years later when I met with Dr. Kalish, he let me know after taking down my history that I was probably allergic to that bread.Dr. Kalish:
I knew after speaking with Lori and learning about her family history and eating habits that she had a high risk of being gluten and lactose intolerant. People who crave foods containing gluten often do so because of gluteomorphins, morphine-like compounds that are released in the brain that give the person a "high" or pleasant feeling from consuming gluten. This can lead to food addiction. Additionally, Lori is an Eastern European Jew, and people of this descent have a high prevalence of gluten intolerance.Lori:
So, after showing positive on this saliva test for gluten intolerance, Dr. Kalish suggested I go off gluten for two months. His theory was correct, and at thirty years of age I discovered that I was both gluten and lactose intolerant. Once I realized that I was intolerant, my life basically changed because I stopped eating that stuff. But stopping proved harder than I originally thought. Despite having good knowledge on how to control my eating from Dr. Kalish, I was still unable to do so. I knew I had a problem with addiction. It was something that I had been struggling with all my life. I remember my first binge when I was five: I ate an entire bottle of Flintstone vitamins. Growing up, though, I would typically overeat pastries from my dad's bakery. After I was unable to successfully go off gluten, I started going to Overeaters Anonymous (OA).Dr. Kalish:
Overeaters Anonymous is a useful resource for people with eating disorders. It is a twelve-step program modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and has been successful for people who have a wide range of eating disorders.Lori:
Basically, working with Dr. Kalish created a pillar for me to base my recovery on. The wheat would make me completely foggy and obsessed. Foggy with money, foggy with relationships, with everything. I've really accepted the fact that I'm an addict. I have an addict mind. I was addicted to food. I wasn't making unfortunate choices with food; I was a slave to it. I got obsessive in all areas of my life. That's where the program really worked. I had to understand that my addiction would spiral out and encompass other areas of my life. Inflaming and irritating my system with gluten and sugar took a long time to repair. Dr. Kalish said it would take a year and a half to two for everything to settle, and that is in fact what's happening now. I also have a lot more energy. The fog has lifted. I am pretty much living in unmediated reality.
Dr. Kalish:
One of my patients provides a prime example of estrogen-progesterone imbalance. Helen is a 58-year-old athlete with a long history of hormonal problems that led her to undergo a hysterectomy, followed by hormone replacement.Helen:
When I went to Dr. Kalish, I was desperate and to be honest, quite pessimistic. An athlete friend of mine who is a long-standing patient of his suggested I go when I complained to her about my inability to lose weight even though I was eating healthy and exercising several times a week. She said that he did natural hormone replacement therapy and this intrigued me because I've always been interested in natural health alternatives and I wasn't feeling any better with the hormone replacement therapy I was prescribed after my hysterectomy.Dr. Kalish:
When I first saw Helen, she was frustrated by her inability to lose weight despite a restricted diet and a heavy training schedule. She was experiencing back and lower-extremity joint pain after running. She also, reluctantly, admitted to feeling moody and depressed after starting an estrogen regimen, and her symptoms were getting worse over time.Helen:
I had a good feeling about Dr. Kalish right off the bat. The first thing he did was reassure me that my problems were normal and that he had successfully treated thousands of women just like me! This was hopeful news and I was excited to find out the results of the lab tests that he ordered for me.Dr. Kalish:
Lab testing showed that Helen's estrogen levels while using HRT were an alarmingly elevated. Since she wasn't taking any progesterone, her ratio of progesterone to estrogen was greatly disturbed. She needed to lower her estrogen dosage and increase her progesterone levels.Helen: When Dr. Kalish explained my lab results to me in my follow-up consultation I was shocked and somewhat angry that I had been prescribed such an excessive dosage of estrogen. I was very curious to see the results of Dr. Kalish's treatment.
Dr. Kalish:
After only a few weeks of treatment with bioidentical progesterone and a shift to a bioidentical estrogen at the appropriate dosage, Helen's mood swings were gone and her depression had greatly diminished. Without the excess water weight and body fat promoted by the estrogen, she returned to her normal weight. The progesterone also had an anti-inflammatory effect, helping her to resume her running program.Helen:
It's been six months and I am feeling much more like myself these days. I am able to maintain my weight and the occasional migraines I was having have vanished. I have been given my vitality back and I am living the kind of active life I love.Dr. Kalish:
Unfortunately, Helen's situation is common to millions of women in our country. In addition to placing themselves at heightened risk of life-threatening illnesses, many women on synthetic HRT are not only failing to reestablish their natural hormonal balance but worsening the estrogen-progesterone ratio. Careful testing of hormone levels, combined with a more healthful diet, adequate exercise, and stress reduction, can put their lives back on track.
Dr. Kalish:
Susan is a classic example of someone experiencing adrenal burn out. When she came to see me she was overweight, excessively fatigued and feeling very stressed. She had been having panic attacks for some time.Susan:
I've always been a very high-strung controlling person. I was always the overachiever who did things better and faster. Right out of college I got a stressful job with a prominent accounting firm. The hours were grueling, the stress unavoidable, especially for me. About three years after starting my job I had gained a considerable amount of weight and was having frequent panic attacks. I even landed in the emergency room a few times. When I wasn't worked up about something or other at work I was exhausted. All I ever wanted to do in my free time was sleep. I was only twenty-five years old, something was wrong.Dr. Kalish:
Susan had been under constant stress for quite some time and it was finally getting to her. Between the long hours she was putting in at work and her lack of exercise and poor diet she was setting herself up for adrenal exhaustion. I explained to Susan that our bodies are naturally designed to deal with stress by releasing cortisol, which prepares the body to protect itself. However, the body needs time to return to normal after the stressful situation is over. The problem with Susan, and many Americans, was that she was under constant stress. Her body never had time to recover. It was not surprising that in a period of chronic stress Susan was experiencing excess weight gain, fatigue and panic attacks.Susan:
I understood what Dr. Kalish was telling me. It made sense. It also became obvious that something was seriously out of balance in my body. Dr. Kalish had me do a series of salivary tests to determine my adrenal stress profile. Once we got the results back he was able to help me determine what supplements I should take as well as what dietary and lifestyle changes would help to lower my stress.Dr. Kalish:
Even before we had Susan set up with the supplements necessary to reprogram her hormones, I recommended that she follow the Kalish Diet, which would remove gluten and emphasize protein, vegetables, non-gluten carbohydrates and healthy fats. In addition I recommended that she stop the glass or two of red wine every night that she was accustomed to and instead drink more water.Susan:
Dr. Kalish's dietary suggestions were very useful. I followed them religiously and noticed results very early on. I was experiencing less fatigue and I eventually started to lose weight. Dr. Kalish also suggested I go to a counselor to help me deal with the stress and anxiety that I had been experiencing. I now go to a counselor once a week and find it very useful to release some of my tension. I still get stressed sometimes, but my therapist, along with my hormone treatment, have made these instances few and far between and I now have more tools to combat the stress when it rears it's ugly head.
