Dr.. Millennia Lytle, who goes by Dr. Millie, was raised in Canada with a whole foods diet, part of the natural health movement of the 70s. Her parents wanted to raise a large family in a healthy, economical, socially responsible way. From her father, she learned about the politics and economics of food, for example, that certain breakfast cereal brands were owned by a tobacco company. In college, she worked as a nanny for a couple in the vitamin industry who saw Naturopathic Doctors as their physicians. Since the couple ate healthily, she experimented with healthy diets–sometimes to a fault (see her website for her story about bulimia). Soon after that, she suffered a traumatic fall, sustaining a head injury and breaking her jaw in three places. It was then that she began to really focus on healing herself and learning about the mind-body connection. Dr. Millie was also diagnosed with severe Cervical Dysplasia, Stage 4. She was advised to undergo a hysterectomy but instead she followed a Naturopathic protocol and was cured.
With degrees in Public Health and Naturopathic Medicine, Dr. Millie came to New York because media opportunities gave her a public health platform. Currently, she is a host for Invite Radio and has her own show on Blog Talk Radio (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/eating-for-meaning), giving her the ability to reach many people with the message of natural health. As a Naturopathic Doctor, experienced clinician, and published researcher, Dr. Millie regards herself as a big picture thinker who solves individuals’ health puzzles; she can connect the dots for people and help them understand how the systems of their bodies work together. Autoimmune disorders, for example, can be caused by imbalances in nutrition, environment and lifestyle. She has developed nutrition programs like Eating for Meaning®, a year-long program that aims for permanent changes in eating habits and health outcomes (see www.milliesays.com).
Dr. Millie loves Naturopathic Medicine because it understands the biochemistry of food and the effect it has on our bodies’ biochemistry, allowing Naturopathic Doctors to intervene at a subclinical, preventative level and stop illness before it starts. She gets a great deal of satisfaction out of being able to apply this knowledge to individual patients’ health puzzles.
Dr. Millie practices in Brooklyn and the Upper West Side, and her specialties include prevention and treatment of chronic illnesses such as high cholesterol, blood pressure, and autoimmune disorders. Recently, she had a patient come in with severe anxiety, insomnia, and a coffee addiction. He was twenty-seven years old and thin. She urged the patient to convince his medical doctor (who was reluctant based on his age and weight) to test his HBA1 C and cortisol levels. The tests came back abnormal and she was able to support his blood sugar and cortisol levels naturally, helping the patient to manage his anxiety and sleep disorder.
Naturopathic Medicine has always been practiced successfully. For the future of health care, the support of Naturopathic Medicine must continue. Please consider making a donation to nyanp.org to support licensure of Naturopathic Doctors in New York today. Thank you!