Our Method

Naturopathic Physical Work-up

A physical examination to diagnose overall health concerns and assess possibly compromised organs, diet and nutritional deficiencies, and to provide supplementation and herbs.

Licensed Naturopathic physicians conduct a thorough examination and create a personalised health program for you to use during and after you complete the Agora Protocol.

Other health issues which may be compromised by the use of drugs or alcohol are addressed, and you are given a 30-day supply of supplements and herbs to continue your program.

Infrared Sauna

This is a gentle process of detoxification which eliminates toxins and allows stored drug and alcohol byproducts and metabolites to leave the body.

Saunas and steam baths have been used for centuries by many world cultures to induce detoxification.

Here's how it works:

Drugs and alcohol are filtered through the liver.

During the filtration process of food or chemicals ingested, by-products are created as protein-based molecules called metabolites.

These metabolites are stored in the fatty tissue of body and brain because both fat cells and drug metabolites are protein-based and therefore have a natural affinity for each other.

These stored metabolites can continue to cause problems for people with alcohol or drug issues, even after they have stopped using.

Therefore it is imperative to detoxify the body and then repattern the brain, thus eliminating the stored metabolites and regenerating and repairing the neuroreceptors of the brain.

We do this through infrared sauna sessions, which scientific research has shown to greatly assist in the elimination of these accumulated and stored toxins.

Neuroreceptor Repair and Regeneration

This unique, highly effective program combines the use of brain nutrients, vitamins, minerals and amino acids to eliminate the craving, repair and repattern the brain and balance distressing emotions. It is gentle and long-lasting.

Drugs, whether prescription drugs (pain pills, antidepressants, stimulants, or benzodiazepines such as Ativan, Valium, Xanax, or Klonopin), alcohol, tobacco, or street drugs (methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, ecstasy, LSD, PCP and others) all have something in common: they overstimulate certain neurotransmitter receptors (nerves) in the brain. This is how they bring about their effects, but it is also how they cause lasting damage that leads to deeper addiction and the inability to handle the stresses of normal life.

NRR consists of an intravenous solution of amino acids (the building blocks that make up all the proteins in our bodies) which actually rebuilds the damaged areas of the brain. These basic amino acids are specially formulated to be able to penetrate and positively influence the brain. The brain can then function again much more normally, cravings disappear, stress levels become much more normal, and clarity of mind is restored.

When taking combinations of amino acids into the body, some will work against others. This is the way the body is designed so that it can ultimately get what it needs from the environment. Also, crossing the "blood-brain barrier" is a difficult process for most substances. Hence, the NRR formulas had to be designed so that only the proper amino acids which would not counteract each other were used, and so that they were very effective in actually penetrating the brain. NRR restores the body physically from the damage done by drugs or alcohol. The other major factor that will determine whether you succeed is your maturity level and strong personal desire to be done with drugs forever.

IV Glutathione Therapy

Glutathione is the antioxidant that is present in every cell in the human body. Glutathione is primarily synthesized in the liver where it is abundantly present.

A high percentage of the blood that leaves the stomach and intestines passes through the liver. The blood carries important nutrients to the liver where they are metabolized into substances vital to life. In the same way, exogenous toxic substances reach the liver where they are either activated or transformed into less toxic derivatives. Glutathione plays a crucial role in the liver’s biotransformation system.

Free radicals play an important role in the development and progression of many brain disorders such as brain injury, neurodegenerative disease, schizophrenia and Down’s syndrome. Glutathione is the brain’s master antioxidant and plays an important protective role in the brain. Free radicals and oxidative damage in neurons is known to be a primary cause of degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease.

Amyloid plaques encroaching on the brain increase the production of free radicals, or oxidative stress. Antioxidants, such as vitamin C and E remove the damaging free radicals. Glutathione can prevent the death of brain cells induced by amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease.

Taking glutathione itself as a supplement does not boost cellular glutathione levels, since it breaks down in the digestive tract before it reaches the cells. However, intravenous glutathione therapy, along with dietary supplements, is effective in boosting intracellular levels of glutathione.

High Dose IV Vitamin C

Vitamin C is an essential nutrient for optimal functioning of many systems in the body. It is used in the immune system, endocrine system, antioxidant enzymes, detoxification system, lipid metabolism, collagen tissue formation and absorption of iron. High Dose vitamin C has been used for many years in the oral and intravenous delivery to reverse acute and chronic disease. Agora considers vitamin C therapy to be critical for toxicity and immune deficiency syndromes.

Depending on a patient’s condition, the practitioner may add more minerals and vitamins to further support the immune system.

Agora For Life Program

The synthesis of several modalities which clears repressed trauma and re-establishes emotional, physical, and spiritual equilibrium.

Our emotions can play an important role in lack of successful recovery. Drugs and alcohol are often used as a solution to relieve discomfort around not being able to resolve issues which come up in our lives. Then we feel shame about our inability to solve the problem, and then we have further shame around using drugs or alcohol to avoid dealing with it. This leads to great stress and our lives may start to spiral out of control.

Using a synthesis of modalities, Agora addresses emotions and other issues, enabling you to move forward in a positive way and to let go of old issues.

Massage Services

Deeply relaxing and restorative, massage further assists in the detoxification process by helping eliminate stored toxins from the body, while releasing physical pain and withheld emotional stress, often locked in muscles and tissues.

Massage is the systematized manipulation of soft tissues for the purpose of normalizing them. Practitioners use a variety of physical methods including applying fixed or movable pressure, holding, or causing movement to the body. Therapists primarily use their hands, but may also use their forearms, elbows, or feet.

The basic goal of massage is to help the body heal itself and to increase health and well-being.

Touch is the core ingredient of massage and also combines science and art. Practitioners learn specific techniques for massage and use their sense of touch to determine the right amount of pressure to apply to each person and locate areas of tension and other soft-tissue problems. Touch also conveys a sense of caring, an important component in the healing relationship.

When muscles are overworked, waste products such as lactic acid can accumulate in the muscle, causing soreness, stiffness, and even muscle spasm.

Massage improves circulation, which increases blood flow, bringing fresh oxygen to body tissues. This can assist the elimination of waste products, speed healing after injury, and enhance recovery from disease.

Therapeutic massage can be used to promote general well-being and enhance self-esteem, while boosting the circulatory and immune systems to benefit blood pressure, circulation, muscle tone, digestion, and skin tone.

Pulsed ElectroMagenetic Frequencies are also part of the Massage session.

NAD IV

NAD stands for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, which is the chemical term for a molecule that reacts with oxygen in the mitochondria in every cell of your body in order to create energy so you can move, breathe, pump blood, digest food, think, and generally, live your life.

Lack of this essential cellular fuel is now recognized as a key feature of chronic fatigue, apathy, depression, anxiety, alcohol and drug addiction, weak immune system (infections and cancer), muscle pain and weakness, headaches, memory disturbance, sleep problems, focus and concentration defects and other chronic diseases. NAD deficiency may be an unrecognized epidemic of cellular disease.

NAD is an activated form of vitamin B3 which becomes a coenzyme when it is bound with hydrogen becoming NADH. Hydrogen, as in hydrogen bomb, is the explosive power that the body uses, along with oxygen, to make energy. Liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen explode when blended together becoming the fuel that propels rockets into the sky. Hydrogen is so explosive that it must be safely inserted into a molecule so that it can be used by the body. NAD is the carrier for reactive hydrogen as it becomes NADH.

This is how it works. We eat carbohydrates, proteins and fats which provide the chemicals that enter the Citric Acid Cycle, a molecular roundabout that produces NADH. The NAD is now “loaded” with hydrogen (NADH) which in turn enters the electron transport chain in the mitochondria and is “sparked” with oxygen and the outcome is energy, or, ATP, along with water. ATP, or adenosine triphospate, is the fuel for the heart to beat, the muscles to contract and for every cellular energy requirement with in the 100 trillion cells of the body.

It is clear to see how important NADH is for the body as it is involved in every bodily function and catalyzes more than a thousand metabolic reactions in the organs and tissues. The heart uses the most NAD as it beats around 86,000 times daily. The brain consumes about one-third of all the energy produced by the body. Often an energy deficiency is first detected in the brain with poor concentration, difficulty focusing, and attention deficit. If the energy shortage lasts long enough, brain neurons cannot synthesize neurotransmitters, the molecules of consciousness, such as serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline, and we experience anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance and other mood changes.

Let us take a look at some of the functions of NADH in the body:

• Increases energy in heart cells
• Increases energy in brain cells
• Protects and repairs DNA, reducing DNA mutations which contribute to atherosclerosis, cancer, immunodeficiency, rheumatoid arthritis, and much more
• The “most powerful antioxidant” in the body according to Dr. Richard Passwater in his book NADH-The Energizing Coenzyme
• Lowers cholesterol
• Lowers blood pressure
• Strengthens the immune system
• Stimulates production of dopamine, serotonin, and noradrenaline, thereby improving moods
• Stimulates nitric oxide production, thereby improving blood flow in the body

Medical research has shown the following medical conditions to improve with 10 days of NAD therapy:

• Chronic fatigue
• Muscle pain and weakness
• Joint pain and stiffness
• Headaches
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Alcohol and drug addiction including Rx drugs
• Diabetes
• Sleep disturbance
• Memory loss (forgetfulness)
• Attention deficit
• Fevers, sore throats and swollen lymph glands
• Parkinson’s disease
• Cancer

Research has also shown that NAD can provide the following benefits in “healthy” people:

• Increased physical energy
• Improved mental performance
• Improved response to short term sleep deprivation
• Reduce the effects of jet lag
• Enhance libido
• Anti-aging

Since NAD is so fundamental to good health, how is it that we can become deficient in this powerful molecule? First of all, the vitamins, minerals, complex carbohydrates, proteins and fats come from our diet and provide the building blocks to citric acid cycle energy production. If any one of the nutritional factors is low, energy production is weakened. Since oxygen is just as important as hydrogen in cellular energetics, lack of exercise and shallow breathing due to stress are common factors that can reduce the amount of oxygen at the cell level. And finally the enzymes that catalyze the citric acid cycle are often inhibited or destroyed by chemical or physical toxins that create oxidative, or free radical, damage. Free radical damage comes from cigarette smoke, drugs, radio waves from cell phones and wi-fi, and the myriad chemicals found in all humans at this time on earth, including phalates, parabens, pesticides, styrene, benzene, toluene, and thousands more. For example, medical scientists now widely believe that Alzheimer’s dementia and Parkinson’s disease share the common feature of nerve cell degeneration due to impairment of the ATP producing enzymes with the citric acid cycle and mitochondria.

However, there is more than acquired NAD deficiency, due to poor diet, chronic stress, sedentary living and toxin accumulation so common in our modern world – it may also be genetic for some people. Genetic NAD deficiency may be present at birth and appear in children as poor sleeping, behavioral problems, hyperactivity, impaired concentration, academic stress and underachievement. Some people have been tired and depressed for as long as they can remember. For these people there is a greater tendency to try drugs and alcohol in order to improve energy and mood, and simply feel better, but the risk for addiction is high. I have treated several people addicted to drugs, alcohol or medical drugs such as benzodiazapenes, like Valium, Librium and Klonopin, with intravenous NAD, thereby eliminating the addiction and leading to improved energy and moods in the long run.

Genetic disorders in energy production are complex and the research is accumulating to help us understand this important issue. There may be a genetic polymorphism that reduces a gene coding for a mitochondrial protein. Since mitochondrial DNA is all received from the mother through the egg (no mitochondria are found in sperm) we can look to the maternal side for clues to energy production in the family history.

How do you treat NAD deficiency?

First of all NAD is in many of the foods that we eat, but it is mostly lost in cooking and what little remains is broken down by the acid in our stomachs. Many research scientists have observed that NAD is oxidized and degraded before it is absorbed from the digestive tract. More recent studies have shown that NAD can be provided in a stabilized form and will increase ATP production in the body and in the brain, thereby offering hope to patients with neurodegenerative disorders.

For patients with severe NAD deficiencies, such as alcoholics or drug addicts, the intravenous form has been shown to be highly effective, usually eliminating the physical craving within three or four days and then producing a clarity of thinking with continued daily IV therapy. The cognitive and emotional improvement is likely due to increased production of neurotransmitters such as serotonin, noradrenalin and dopamine. Numerous studies have shown that IV NAD is highly beneficial for drug addicted patients, including those addicted to benzodiazepine medications like Valium, Librium and Klonopin.

NAD therapy offers a foundational treatment that promotes health throughout the body.