Business: Advanced Health of Naperville
Address: 1767 W. Ogden Ave., Naperville
Phone/website: 630-355-8988, www.AdvancedHealthNaperville.com
Functional medicine practitioner: Candace Lawrence, 64, of Naperville
Years in business: 26 in the profession
What do you do? “Functional medicine. Anyone trained in that is trained to look at the entire body, look at the labs and then decide what we’re going to work on first depending on what the patient’s symptoms are or what their goal is,” Lawrence said.
How do you do that? “Let’s say you don’t sleep well. Most people do not. … The first thing I talk about is (your) sleep hygiene. The room you sleep in should be pitch black. You’d be surprised. The power strip everyone has a light on it? Duct tape over that. Research shows that ambient light, a little around your curtains, can stop you from going into your deep R.E.M. sleep. … Blue light from electronics signals to your body that it’s daylight. So, when your body feels like it’s daylight again, it keeps you from sleeping. … Most people make the mistake of taking too much melatonin if you have trouble falling asleep.”
How long have you been doing this? “Twenty-six years. I had a practice in Naperville for 25 years. … I’ve been (in this location for) seven months.”
Does Advance Health address a variety of health issues? “Yes. Structural is the big thing. It’s more chiropractic but we’ve brought in a structural specialist.”
How do you land here? “Through COVID-19, I was doing a lot online. I partnered up with a practitioner in Seattle who was doing a lot of these things. When things started to open again, she wanted me to come out and help set up her practice. I was in Seattle for two years. … My patients were coming here. That’s where I referred them to. When I returned, it was a great blend.”
Why do you do this? “I was going to be a science teacher. Right around the time I got my middle school certification, my son became a middle schooler. I realized one of us wasn’t going to make it through the next three years. At that same time, I had a friend who was in practice. She had just learned an allergy elimination technique with acupressure. It’s not invasive.
“I was so fascinated by it, I flew out and studied with the woman who created that. Then I came back and was doing it on friends. Everybody said, ‘You’re really good at this. You should go back to school.’ … I got into Oriental medical school, got my master’s and partnered with a chiropractor at Trager Healing Center.”
How do you fix a ‘gut’ issue? “You have good (bacteria) and bad (bacteria) in there. They’re supposed to be in balance. That’s what keeps us healthy. Well, one dose of antibiotics will wipe out all the bacteria. You don’t want that. … When you’re taking the antibiotic and afterwards, you need to take a high-quality probiotic along with eating a high-fiber diet and taking the inflammatory foods out.”
Isn’t yogurt a probiotic? “Not really because when you eat yogurt, it has to go through the hydrochloric acid of the stomach. One of its jobs is to kill bacteria, good and bad.”
What about milk? “There’s more calcium in a cup of broccoli than there is a cup of milk. Cheese and milk can be inflammatory to your gut.”
So, if you eat smart… “If you do what you’re supposed to do, the cells of your intestinal walls will start to heal within four days. … I haven’t been to a McDonald’s in probably 20 years.”
Is Naperville good for business? “Yes. It’s easier when your population has a little bit more understanding about natural medicine. … We’re blessed with Whole Foods, Fruitful Yield, Fresh Thyme. All of these stores. Meijer has organic. … We live in a plethora of organic (foods), fresh. It’s wonderful.”
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Do you enjoy your job? “Yes, because it’s so fulfilling. When someone comes in and says, ‘I had no idea,’ I love that because I’ve educated them and opened their mind to a whole different thought process. … It’s not my job, it’s my passion.”
Does insurance cover your services? “No. Clients pay $200 for 90 minutes, $150 for 60 minutes.”
What’s your advice for someone starting a business? “Start small. That’s the key.”
If you know of a business you’d like to see to profiled in Down to Business, contact Steve Metsch at [email protected].
Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.