STANDOUT: DR. CHRISTIAN GONZALEZ, MetroMD INSTITUTE of REGENERATIVE & COSMETIC MEDICINE

By Vic Gerami

Dr. Christian Gonzalez ND is an acclaimed expert on naturopathic medicine, integrative oncology, chronic disease and general medicine at the MetroMD Institute of Regenerative & Cosmetic Medicine in Hollywood CA, founded by world-renowned Dr. Alex Martin.

He incorporates naturopathic modalities, such as botanicals, homeopathy, nutrient, and nutritional support as well as various other therapeutics as part of his comprehensive and integrated approach to medicine and wellness.

I interviewed Dr. Gonzalez at MetroMD’s offices on Hollywood Boulevard to discuss naturopathic medicine, nutrition, latest innovations and overall health and well-being.

‘Some people are so devoid of basic minerals and nutrients upon the diagnosis that something like juicing a variety of different vegetables can really start adding into at least balancing the body’

VG: your background is in oncology, but then also natural therapy.

DG: Yeah, naturopathic medicine is the schooling where I’ve graduated from. And what that basically is, is medical school. It’s an accredited medical school. There’s a few of them around the country, but it’s a little bit different because we take a stance in really diving deep into alternative therapies that are evidence-based, right? So, it’s important for it to be evidenced based. Some things we did learn are a little bit, there’s still research going in the primary stages. But the majority are the stuff like herbal medicine: we learned about what they do, how to dose it, what it’s indicated for, and not indicated for. And then nutrition, instead of, a conventional medical school, we’ll have about 23.9 hours of nutrition. We have two years of nutrition. And that’s important because any patient that comes in here, it’s a matter of finding out what are the basics of their health first because I can’t give a protocol and expect patients to go home. They really must start shifting those life basics, and nutrition is integrated within that; one of the major ones. So, it still drives me crazy that conventional medical schools don’t teach nutrition. So, once that schooling finished, then I went into my residency in oncology. So that’s when I started seeing cancer patients in a hospital setting; so inpatient and outpatient, and I did that for two years. And then I headed out here.

VG: That’s fascinating. I have read about Dr. Gerson who in the 50s was an advocate of juicing to treat cancer.

DG: Yeah. The juice is powerful. A lot of the time, it’s powerful enough that it has a biochemical, nutritional and interference pattern with these cancer cells. It can happen, but sometimes I find that folks now need a little bit more aggressive treatment. But some people are so devoid of basic minerals and nutrients upon the diagnosis that something like juicing a variety of different vegetables can really start adding into at least balancing the body. And if that’s a major part of the disease, then we could see some big changes. I personally haven’t done it. If people go to Gerson and they go, and I say, you can go to Gerson and do your treatment there, and we’ll come back and investigate sort of why the cancer came. The important part of all these claims like Gerson is that they can really give all the big guns when you are diagnosed, but they don’t do investigation as to why the cancer came. They can help correct it, but to me it’s why? Like what is going on in the person’s lifestyle, diet, dietary, toxic exposures, stress and emotional traumas that are held and things like that. They need to be liberated and fixed before we do, to keep them healthy.

‘If we can help at least push the body to a place where it’s healthy and then take them off supplements slowly and have the people at least make a big shift: that’s what I do’

VG: So what is like your role here at Metro MD? The title role.

DG: I’m the head of naturopathic medicine and functional medicine here. Basically, what I do is compliment a lot of what Dr. Alex Martin does. So sometimes there’ll be patients who do stem cell and within those patients, we’ll be helping them to prepare so the stem cells work better. We do that via dietary and supplement protocols. You must think about the whole atmosphere of the body. What’s the climate of the body? So, the stem cells can work better. That’s the way we work in conjunction. But I also have my own solitary practice where I just treat a lot of cancer patients, a lot of patients with gut dysfunction, hormone dysfunction. And I do utilize a lot of testing to give some hard data so we can see really what the body is calling for. We make functional interventions: so, if nutritionally your magnesium is so low, that’s going to have implications on your ability to produce energy, the contraction in your muscle, relaxation, brain nerves. If we can help at least push the body to a place where it’s healthy and then take them off supplements slowly and have the people at least make a big shift: that’s what I do.

VG: It’s so funny you said magnesium, so I know everyone’s body is different in needs, but like if an average person was a little deficient, how many milligrams of magnesium should they take?

DG: Well, it depends. Usually I can give up to 1200 up to a thousand milligrams for some people that are low. Some people tend to do just well on 600 milligrams around there, but it’s hard to say when you dose people and what forms too. Personally, I put mineral drops in my water, that mineral compound will give me trace minerals and the important minerals that I need throughout the day. And I fill up, I just drop them in my water, and I don’t have to worry about taking magnesium or taking zinc.

‘people who come in for aesthetics are just in society in general, is that we’re looking for quick fix’

VG: Which one is the trace mineral? Are you talking about that blue bottle that we see at Whole Foods?

DG: It’s actually what I use. Yeah. Trace mineral drops, they’re really good. Well, sometimes you don’t put too much, it could taste really metallic. So, I’m kind of like conservative with it, but I’ll drink a lot of water throughout. I’ll put a little bit, little bit, little bit and then it’ll equate. But there’s certainly a difference between drinking just plain old filter water that’s purified, that’s also devoid of the minerals, and then adding in the minerals makes a big difference.

VG: So people who come in here, they’re already kind of a curated group because they’re conscious of at least the aesthetics, but probably also health and fitness and such. From group that you see or maybe other people outside of Metro MD, what are some of the common challenges or deficiencies?

DG: Some of the challenges, especially with the people who come in for aesthetics are just in society in general, is that we’re looking for quick fix. We answer an email; when we’ve got an email, we want to answer it quickly, when you send a DM, we want to answer a quick, we call somebody on automated line, and we want everything done quick. So, a lot of these folks come in and they sort of want a protocol this for that. A pill for an ill because we’re so used to them in the medical structure in the system: taking a medication for something, give me this for that, headache this for that. So that thinking translates a lot to this medicine too, because they go, well, what supplement can you give me for my brain health? What supplement can you give me to lose weight? And it doesn’t necessarily work that way. I think the biggest challenge in what people are starting to become more open, understanding that fundamental change in putting that foundation is going to keep that long-term structure for your health. Because you may feel better if I give you $200 worth of supplements for your gut, but then what happens when you stop? And you’re still eating those things that are really straining your gut or you’re not getting rid of the infection that is really causing inflammation in the gut. So that’s sort of the population that I see, folks who are willing to make a change but still don’t understand that it’s sort of a life change, it’s a shift rather than just in a quick intervention.

‘Sleep is number one. If you’re not sleeping well, I’d rather someone eat crappy and work out less than that.
Sleep is the number one thing’

VG: Let’s discuss Ivy vitamin treatments.

DG: I don’t personally do too much that the team does here. Ivy treatments can be very helpful for folks like, let’s say if I do a nutritional profile on you; and magnesium, potassium, zinc, manganese B-vitamins, they’re all low. They’re all imperative in all these body functions, particularly just in the main one of sustaining life and energy, creating energy so you can move and breathe and do all of your body functions. So sometimes people are low, especially when you couple that with poor nutrition. Poor nutrition is the biggest one really, or any insults in the body that’s asking for a lot of vitamins or reactions can happen; that can be helpful by replenishing. But it can be really powerful, I’ve seen people go through chemo. Let’s say for example, I do vitamin C; people go through chemotherapy much better, who do have IV vitamin C so long as it’s indicated and safe, they’re much stronger and resilient.

VG: What basic advice about health, nutrition and self-care can you share with readers who may or may not be able to come see you at MetroMD?

DG: Sleep is number one. If you’re not sleeping well, I’d rather someone eat crappy and work out less than that. Sleep is the number one thing; because the power of what sleep does for you the next day is unparalleled immune system, detoxification, hormone balance, and you feel good mentally like blood sugar, hypertension. Those folks who don’t get enough sleep already have elevated blood sugar in the morning. Also, if your cortisol is a mess from no sleep; your stress hormone, if that’s a mess from no sleep, then that’s predisposing you to a whole day of hormonally going up and down, and up and down. So, what I tell people is understanding the importance of sleep because that’s something we give up so fast.

VG: Makes sense. So, when someone comes in and they say, I’m interested in the vitamin drips, what do you do first before you decide?

DG: Well, it depends on the vitamin drip, and if it is IV vitamin C drip, you really need to test for a certain deficiency in the red blood cells because you can get really sick if you have that deficiency called G6PD. So usually I think it’s better indicated; instead of someone going, I need a whole profile of all your best IVs, instead of that, why don’t we run a test to see what you’re indicating and get your own custom profile. So, we do the test; I show a look, this is really low, really, really low, look at your numbers. Let’s do two weeks rather like more of a prescription approach to it rather than like a novelty.

VG: I think thing we covered everything. Do you have anything to add? Anything you want to mention?

DG: I have my podcast called ‘Heal Thy Self.’ And we’ve only done 23 shows and it’s blowing up already. But that’s helpful for folks to watch because it covers everything.

‘I think the biggest challenge in what people are starting to become more open, understanding that fundamental change in putting that foundation is going to keep that long-term structure for your health’

VG: Watch or listen to?

DG: Both, watch and listen. It is YouTube and iTunes. But the folks can really learn a lot because we do a knowledge session where I teach like something about, like I just did my last one on vitamin D, but the one before that was on coffee or liver health. And then I do product review. And then my last one was on ketchup. I went over the worst ketchup out there, the best ketchup out there, what to look for; so, I am empowering these consumers on how to look in the supermarket, that’s a session. Then I usually have a great guest on in this community, or in this field. We’ve had some amazing guests, but everything from yoga instructors to medical doctors, to naturopathic doctors, to professional volleyball players. Like we have all these people who are walking their path of truth and being able to impart their knowledge to better the listeners and viewers. It’s awesome.

MORE ABOUT DR. CHRISTIAN GONZALEZ

Dr. Gonzalez completed a two-year residency position at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Here, he became proficient in Integrative Oncology through exposure to various disciplines and modalities. Dr. Gonzalez’s rare balance of focus and bedside manner during his residency caused him to grow very popular among his peers and patients.

He leaves the center having treated over 700 patients and having a long-lasting effect on them both physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He earned his Bachelor of Science at Rutgers University, where he studied Environmental Business Economics. Although he had planned to pursue dentistry, he was drawn to Naturopathic Medicine and a holistic approach to patient care.

He completed his Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine at the University of Bridgeport College of Naturopathic Medicine in 2014. His doctorate work included a thesis reviewing the current and complementary treatments for bladder cancer. As part of his training, Christian completed clinical rotations in pediatrics, general medicine, oncology, homeopathy, botanical and mind-body medicine, along with a preceptorship at the NYU Langone Integrative Urology Center.

He will provide optimal patient care, by incorporating Naturopathic modalities, such as botanicals, homeopathy, nutrient, and nutritional support as well as various other therapeutics. He integrates the latest understanding of naturopathic and functional therapeutics into all types of medical conditions. Dr. Gonzalez applies the belief that the body has an innate ability to heal itself when given favorable conditions to thrive. He treats all medical conditions both acute and chronic.

MORE ABOUT MetroMD

MetroMD Institute of Regenerative Medicine is the premiere source for specialized Stem Cell Therapy and other Anti-Aging treatments for men and women.

When you want to look and feel better it’s time to visit us, MetroMD Institute of Regenerative Medicine in Los Angeles and Hollywood, California. We provide our patients with twenty-first century medicine in which they can truly benefit. Our uniquely effective products and services all stem from an innovative branch of medicine called regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine includes new technology that is evidence-based and addresses cosmetic and health problems that cannot be resolved by conventional medicine or surgical approaches. Choose from many of our treatments such as hormone replacement therapy, cell therapy, cosmetic treatments, laser treatments, iv and vitamin therapy and nutrition & diet options that help improve your life.

Our medical staff and team of doctors are ready to help you find regenerative treatments that fit your specific condition. We encourage you to sign up on our website to learn about our special packages and events. When you want cosmetic treatments, we have a vast array all aimed at aiding you in looking your best. Our treatments will assist you in restoring a more fresh and youthful appearance so you can effectively combat the signs of aging. We only use the most advanced treatments, so you are assured to experience an effective, superior treatment with attractive results. Turn to us for cosmetic treatments such as Botox, fat transfer, Belotero, Juvederm, Martin Threadlift, Kybella, Micro-Needling, Restylane, Perfect Derma Peel, Sculptra Aesthetic, SculpSure, Voluma and Volbella. No matter what type of treatment you want, our caring facilities are ready to assist.

For more information or to make an appointment to see Dr. Gonzalez, please visit MetroMD.net