Athletic Performance

Treatments / Athletic Performance
Athletic Performance

Athletic Performance

Athletic performance visits include optimization plans and counseling for a range of athletes from amateur to professional.

Physical activity, athletic performance, and recovery from exercise are enhanced by optimal nutrition. Appropriate selection of foods and fluids, timing of intake, and supplement choices for optimal health and exercise performance are vital to stay healthy through physical activity and optimize athletic performance.

Our providers will give you the support your body needs by putting together treatment plans to optimize your performance.

  • Nutrition counseling
  • Meal planning
  • Infusion therapy
  • Nutritional supplements
  • Acupuncture

Providers

Wendy Ploegstra, APN

Wendy Ploegstra, APN

Integrative Nurse Practitioner

Board-certified in family practice in 2008 and certified as a Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner in 2018, Wendy A. Ploegstra has incorporated alternative therapies into her practice as far back as she can remember.

Health Tips

VAGINAL MICROBIOME
The Care and Feeding of Your Vaginal Microbiome

In our quest for well-being, we often overlook an unsung hero within us—the vaginal microbiome. While we commonly associate the term “microbiome” with our gut, it extends its influence to various corners of our body, including our skin and, yes, our vagina. This remarkable microbial community, consisting of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and even parasites, plays a pivotal role in maintaining our health. A balanced vaginal microbiome contributes to seamless digestion, a robust immune system, neurotransmitter production, and even longevity. Yet, in our well-intentioned efforts to care for our bodies, we may inadvertently disrupt this delicate ecosystem. From douching and smoking to antibiotics and unwashed sex toys, several factors can upset the harmonious balance of the vaginal microbiome. In the pages ahead, we will explore the intricacies of this often-overlooked aspect of women’s health, shedding light on the care and feeding of your vaginal microbiome, and offering insights into maintaining its delicate equilibrium.

THE CARE AND FEEDING OF YOUR VAGINAL MICROBIOME
Hydration and Longevity

Sometime in her eighties, my Aunt Hildy, who passed on at 94 or so, handed me a book, “Your Body’s Many Cries for Water”, by an Iranian physician with a totally unpronounceable name, Fereydoon Batmanghelidj, M.D. She told me it had changed her life. Dr. B. attributed virtually all chronic illnesses, premature death, and susceptibility to infections to the state of chronic dehydration we had allowed ourselves to endure by our insufficient intake of water.

Because Dr. B. also felt that water had curative properties, his work was literally shredded by conventional physicians here in the U.S., where he was regarded as a “crank” and a “quack”. The Wikipedia entry is especially brutal since it’s written by Stephen Barrett of Quackwatch, which (if you bother to read it) seems to have a special loathing for Dr. B. because of his claims that good hydration promotes longevity.

And so the years pass. Dr. B. dies at 74, although his books (he wrote seven more) all remain in print, apparently being read by the well-hydrated, healthy, and generally ignored by the desiccated conventional physicians.

Longevity
Water and Your Longevity

You’ll like this story. Sometime in her eighties, my Aunt Hildy, who passed on at 94 or so, handed me a book, “Your Body’s Many Cries for Water”, by an Iranian physician with a totally unpronounceable name, Fereydoon Batmanghelidj, M.D. She told me it had changed her life. Dr. B. attributed virtually all chronic illnesses, […]

Testosterone
Anti-Aging Medicine: Testosterone For Men, And Yes, It Really Works

In middle age, you, as a man, or your sexual partner (keeping this observation to her/himself), will likely start to notice a group of symptoms due to a slow but inevitable decline of your male hormone testosterone. As the movie director Martin Scorsese put it well, “Sex becomes memory.” Not necessarily. Not by a long […]

Trigger Point Therapy
Wholehealth Chicago Partners With Chicago’s Finest Trigger Point Therapy Team

Let me tell you about Mary Biancalana and the value of myofascial trigger point therapy. A lifelong fitness expert and personal trainer, in her early thirties Mary found herself with chronic headaches. First, she was told they were ‘psychological,’ then a manifestation of a little understood term called “trigger points” and another condition she’d never […]

WholeHealth Chicago Apothecary

Our apothecary offers a wide array of high-quality natural products.

Contact Us

Have a question for WholeHealth Chicago? Feel free to call the office at 773-296-6700, or send us an email.

Newsletter Sign Up

Stay up to date on how to maximize your health and well-being!

Please correct the marked field(s) below.
WholeHealth Chicago - HT sign up