Like the numerous local healthcare practitioners that have migrated away from conventional medicine to practice a more holistic form of medicine, Michelle Trias, a naturopathic consultant and owner of My Naturo Wellness, in Bonita Springs, has a familiar story about how conventional medicine failed to resolve the chronic illnesses that several of her family members were suffering from. “My husband, Larry, suffered from chronic acid reflux. My daughter Nicole had asthma and Olivia had severe eczema from head to toe,” says Trias, who received a doctorate from the New Eden School of Natural Health & Herbal Studies, in South Bend, Indiana.

“My husband tried every test to get to the root cause of acid reflex. After his colonoscopy, I asked if changing his diet could turn things around, and the doctor told me absolutely not. ‘He has too much acid in his stomach and he’ll have to be on Nexium for the rest of his life.’ I changed his diet and in a matter of months the acid reflux disappeared,” explains Trias. The results of extensive research and changing her husband’s diet gave Trias a big,“Aha!” moment and the idea that she could use more natural ways to help her daughters. 

Olivia suffered from a vaccine injury that left her with eczema so severe in the creases of her arms and legs that the skin lost its pigmentation. She was on steroids. “Olivia had been thriving until I took her at age 2 to the pediatrician that instructed me to put her on full fat milk. When the same pediatrician told me that nothing could be done and Olivia would just have to live with the eczema, I suspected that I could change her diet as well as Nicole’s diet and help both of them. I intuitively knew this because my husband was responding to his new diet around the same time that Nicole’s asthma had turned into bronchitis and left me running back and forth between home and the emergency room because she had trouble breathing at night,”

Dealing with Olivia’s health issues required more research and appointments with a chiropractor and acupuncturist to help her detoxify and heal her body with diet and supplementation. As a result, the eczema disappeared. 

Nicole had been asthmatic since she had followed her pediatrician’s directive to put her on full fat milk. The disease progressively worsened. A nebulizer was necessary to help her breathe.  “The doctor told me that I’d need to learn to deal with it, because it was a serious condition and she was going to have it her whole life. I never took Nicole back to that doctor and I knew for sure with all the accumulated evidence that I was seeing, nutrition was a key to my family’s health. I began reading everything I could find on nutrition. Eventually when I realized that I was missing a deeper understanding of the body and why there was sickness and disease, I enrolled in school to learn naturopathy, which focuses on healing the whole person’s body and mind. The five years it took me to get my degree was worth every minute I spent on learning about something I’d become so passionate about,” enthuses Trias.

The dissertation for Trias’ doctorate took her longer to write than she anticipated. “I wrote it on nutrient absorption as a key to homeostasis in the cells, focusing on the digestive system and gut health. I could write it again and add three more chapters as a result of what I have learned in my practice. My clients and I generally have to begin with healing their gut issues and improving their nutrition. As incremental improvements become evident, nearly everyone sees improvement in their other issues,” explains Trias, who advises her clients to take the health of their body into their own hands. “I give them the tips and tools and show them the path to health. I have no magic pill, which is why I let them know that they are the only person that can heal their issues, and that we’re a team working together on a healing journey.”

For more information or to make an appointment, call 239-579-3846 or visit MyNaturoWellness.com.