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The Best Health Care Clinic in Nigeria

by Aquila Effiong

What are the top 5 things you expect from your local clinic? An extensive research has shown that a patient expects; Transparency, Effective Communication, Empathy, Respect for Time & Effective Results. Well, if you’ve had a hard time finding a clinic that efficiently provides all of the above and more, your search is over! Introducing…. QUINCY WELLNESS & NATUROPATHIC CENTRE, the foremost integrative health care facility in Nigeria.

Quincy Wellness & Naturopathic Centre formally known as Quincy Herbals was founded in 1996 by Dr (Mrs.) Quincy Ayodele. What started out as the most effective herbal weight-loss solution and skin-care clinic gradually evolved to become a well-rounded Integrative Medical Health care clinic under the leadership of Dr. Tobi Ayodele-Keeney, the daughter of the founder.

On the 19th of January 2022, the Managing Director of Quincy Wellness & Naturopathic Centre, Dr. Tobi Ayodele-Keeney was interviewed by media representatives from top Nigerian newspapers including Vanguard, Punch and The Sun on account of the outstanding success her medical clinic has achieved in the past one year, especially in the face of the raging global pandemic.

“At Quincy, we re-define health care. We go beyond treating sick patients by prescribing drugs or performing procedures that aid their recovery, we have garnered for ourselves a reputation for excellent bedside manners (a term used in the medical world to describe the way in which a doctor treats a patient with kindness, friendliness and understanding).”

Dr. Tobi Ayodele-Keeney also pointed out that the highly qualified medical staff at Quincy are trained to deliver accurate diagnostic results with respect to the time of the patient, and an understanding that educating each patient about his/her medical test result is an important step in the direction of a healthier Nigeria. “At Quincy, we understand that information is the key to getting our patients to partner with us in achieving 100% recovery or effective management in chronic cases. Every patient gets their medical lab test result within an hour of taking the test, and a ‘sit-down’ with a doctor who will explain detail about the test result to the patient in plain terms.”

What a clinic! Right?!

Quincy center 3

But wait, there’s more…

Quincy Wellness & Naturopathic Centre is the foremost Integrative Medical Health care clinic in Nigeria, and it operates in line with the directive of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Lagos State Ministry of Health that health care facilities should “integrate” (combine scientifically proven methods of traditional medical care and western medical care in the treatment of chronic illnesses). This directive came as a result of findings in global medical research that prove the shortcomings of western medicine in treating chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, hypertension etc. In 2021, Quincy was able to acquire licenses from medical boards such as HEFAMAA (Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency) and the Traditional Medicine Board to enable it practice freely within the confines of professional and modern medical ethics.

In Quincy’s short sojourn into the world of Integrative health care, the clinic has recorded a 100% record in COVID care management, a 2-week recovery of an auto-immune disease patient, adequate management of lifestyle diseases including (diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, obesity etc.) and improved fertility in sub-fertile patients with over 80% success rate.

Quincy Wellness & Naturopathic Centre under the leadership of Dr. Tobi Ayodele-Keeney is taking the healthcare industry by storm, making Nigeria a healthier nation one patient at a time.

CategoriesLifestyle

Stress Management: Why you don’t get good sleep

by Aquila Effiong
Ever gone a couple of days, weeks without 7-8 hours of sleep daily? Or maybe you are the type that has to watch or read something just to fall asleep, and when you wake up, you always feel so tired and unrested, and probably with a headache. If you are experiencing any of this, this short piece will help you understand why you Sleep is a vital part component of a human being’s health. The importance of sleep cannot be overemphasized
CategoriesLifestyle

Weight loss Diets: Pros and Cons of the Latest Diet Trends

by Aquila Effiong

In general, the take home point is this; eating fewer calories will result in weight loss. However, we should realize that weight loss and being healthy (alive) are two different things. You can lose weight in an unhealthy way and end up with chronic diseases or worse. The best approach to losing weight the healthy way is to reduce our portions, eat more fruits and vegetables and eliminate junk food and empty calories. The best weight loss diet that works is the type that you can stick to for the long term. Weight loss should not be done as a fashion statement or a trend; it should be done as a healthy lifestyle change that lasts for a lifetime.

Welcome to the world of the latest diet trends with each diet promising miraculous results. While some diets have been proven scientifically to be healthy and even preferred to the standard modern diet, some other diets are controversial and may carry some additional health risks. We will look at some of these diets and discuss the advantages versus disadvantages of these latest diets.

Egg Diet: This type of diet is a low carbohydrate, low calorie by high protein diet. It involves consuming mostly eggs as the main protein source with the addition of green leafy vegetables, mushrooms and grapefruit. You eliminate all carbohydrate meals including fruits and grains, and you drink only water or zero calorie drinks. This diet is geared at helping you achieve ketosis a metabolic process which involves your body burning fat as opposed to burning carbohydrates. While this diet will obviously achieve weight loss, there might be some side effects to worry about. This includes an initial lack of energy due to the drastic reduction in carbs, indigestion due to shifting to a very high protein diet, and bad breath from the ketosis. The other very bad side effect to note from eating too many eggs is high cholesterol. People who consume more than 6 eggs a week have a 30% higher chance of developing heart attacks and stroke.

Liquid Diet: a liquid diet involves drinking only low calorie liquids as the only source of nutrition. This can include drinking only juice, teas, meal replacement drinks, pepper soup without the meat or vegetables, and of course water. While such strict caloric restrictions, the dieter is bound to lose weight however, such dietary shortage done over long term can cause health problems due to malnutrition. This can include hair loss, gallstones, kidney problems and even heart disease.

Keto Diet- The ketogenic diet involves a very low carbohydrate, high fat, moderate protein diet with the aim of getting your body to metabolize fat instead of carbs. In so doing, your body produces ketones as a fuel source. Just like the egg diet, your body goes into ketosis and you start losing weight. The diet has been the latest in town as it’s almost guaranteed to help you lose weight if done as instructed. However, it does come with a few risks that the dieter has to take note. Developing too much ketones in the body can cause very deadly side effects especially for diabetics, people with high blood pressure, and those who are breastfeeding. Ketosis may also cause frequent urination, which may lead to heart palpitation and kidney damage due to dehydration and loss of electrolytes.

CategoriesDiet

Too Much Acid Kills: Why We Need to Alkalinize our Diets

by Aquila Effiong

We all try our best to eat healthy, lose weight and stay active. The main premise behind most of our healthy living actions is to prevent chronic diseases from occurring and one new trend is to eat a more alkaline diet. Most of us don’t even think our regular diets can be acidic or alkaline but there is evidence to suggest that eating foods that are too high in acid forming ingredients can put us at risk for chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Tumors and cancer cells survive better in an acidic environment, and they even produce acid in addition. This means that even people who have conditions such as fibroids may be consuming a diet high in acid forming foods

Acid forming foods have a pH of 4.6 or lower and these include sugar, red meat, corned beef and processed meats, dairy products, certain grains such as white rice and wheat, some high protein foods and of course processed foods, alcohol, soft drinks and sweetened beverages. Soft drinks and sweetened beverages in particular are very acidic coupled with the fact that they are not healthy for you. The acid found in soft drinks has a pH of about 2.5, while battery acid’s pH is 1.0. This means you can rust a nail inside a bottle of soft drink or use the liquid to remove rust and tough stains from your toilet bowl! In comparison, the pH of pure water is 7.0.

A possible solution to this can be the alkaline diet. This diet is based on the concept that you can improve your body’s overall health based on eating foods that are slightly alkaline. The idea is that acid forming foods puts your body under more stress in an attempt to balance its pH when it is metabolizing the food. This in turn puts you at higher risk for diseases such as brittle bones and cancer.

What types of food should one eat that are alkaline? For carbohydrates, try to eat root vegetables such as onions, carrots, sweet potatoes and our local Nigerian yam. Good local grains to eat include fonio (acha) and millet. Ginger, sea salt, most nuts and seeds are also considered alkaline. Most green leafy vegetables such as spinach, cucumber, celery, ugwu and kale are alkaline as well. While fruits might seem acidic to the taste, they are actually alkaline once consumed. These fruits include watermelon, pineapple, honeydew melon, limes, lemon and paw paw. Lemon in particular is surprisingly highly medicinal and helps alkalinizes the body. A good health tip is to squeeze the juice of one lemon in a mug of hot spring/mineral water and drink it every morning on an empty stomach in addition to eating a healthy balanced diet. The benefits of an alkaline diet includes boosting the immune system, fighting cancer cells, weight loss, more energy, clearer skin, a better digestion and a sharper memory.
CategoriesDiet

How Herbal Medicine can Eliminate Nigeria’s Reliance on Crude Oil

by Aquila Effiong

Traditional medicine according to the World Health Organization (WHO) refers to the knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures, used in the maintenance of health and in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness. Herbal medicine is a natural remedy derived from medicinal herbs in the management of disease. Herbal medicine is a part of traditional medicine and is the aspect that can be the most standardized and generalized of all aspects of traditional medicine Over 60% of the entire world’s population utilize traditional medicine, with over 80% of Africans depending on herbal medicine for treatment of disease as a first point of contact. Herbal medicine using medicinal plants have been found to have been used as early as 5000 years ago in places like ancient Egypt and Sumeria. Surprisingly, Nigeria has one of the highest volumes of biodiversity in the world in terms of the availability of medicinal plants of which many are yet to be studied or even discovered. The benefits of traditional medicine are not to be underestimated as we will discuss the benefits of traditional medicine and how it can eliminate our reliance on oil. Herbal medicine and traditional medicine will be used interchangeably for the purpose of this article.

Herbal medicine is more affordable than prescription medications. It is easier to obtain that prescription medication especially in Nigeria. Medicinal plants grow like weeds in Nigeria so to find it just require little to no effort. Herbal medicine stabilizes hormones and improves metabolism. Something as simple as wild yam root extract can help alleviate fertility problems in women. Following the conventional medical route, the woman will have to use dangerous synthetic hormones which are full of dangerous side effects. Herbal medicine promotes natural healing and strengthens the immune system. As of now, there is yet to be a pharmaceutical drug that helps the immune system for normal people without causing any dangerous side effects. On the other hand, several medicinal plants show strong immune boosting qualities. Traditional medicine generally has fewer side effects. This is due to the fact that they are not synthetically derived, the active ingredients are at lower concentration and therefore the side effect profile is also reduced.

Finally I base my conclusion of this; if Nigeria wants to eliminate our need for oil, investing in the development of traditional medicine is the way to go. Our current oil economy is declining; we produced just $17 billion USD worth in 2017. However, the current herbal medicine industry is worth about $117 billion USD. If Nigeria becomes one of the world’s major exporters of herbal products producing just 40% of the world’s herbal products, we will already be at $46 billion USD! The morphine industry used for managing post operative pain and chronic pain is a $10 billion USD industry and already, there are natural alternatives to morphine found in Nigeria that can offer even better pain relief without the dangerous side effects such as addiction and respiratory failure. Imagine combining that with a multibillion dollar food export economy and the sky is the limit for us. Traditional medicine if properly developed and standardized can be used in collaboration with conventional medicines to treat malaria, diabetes, sickle cell, and hypertension and even possibly cure HIV/AIDS. Let us all look inwards and find ways to improve the Nigerian economy, and the first step is to develop ourselves and develop our natural resources.

CategoriesDiet

Healing Food And Herbs for Menopause

by Aquila Effiong

Menopause is a Natural Part of a Woman’s Life; Here is How to Ease the Transition

Menopause is a process that occurs later in a woman’s life and is determined when her regular menstruation stops continuously for a full year. Natural menopause is a normal part of the ageing course of being a woman. A woman Menopause can be natural or induced. A woman is born with all the eggs she will need for possible conception which is between 1 and 3 million eggs. These eggs are stored in the ovaries which sit on each side of the uterus. When a girl reaches puberty and starts her period, she releases one or more eggs from the ovaries that sit in the fallopian tubes waiting for fertilization by sperm from a man. If that does not happen, the egg disintegrates and is expelled along with the uterine lining that has been building up waiting for a fertilized egg. This monthly shedding of uterine lining is known as a menstrual period. In the course of a woman’s childbearing period, she will release about 400,000 eggs of which only a tiny fraction of them will end up being children. Anytime after the age of 40, several changes occur around the fact that the ovaries stop releasing eggs, ending menstruation permanently. The average age of reaching menopause worldwide is 51 years of age however, some women may experience menopause much earlier due to other reasons such as surgical menopause and hormonal problems. Surgical menopause occurs when a women goes through an operation to remove her ovaries. This usually happens with a diagnosis of ovarian, uterine, colon or cervical cancer. Certain treatments for cancer can also cause a woman to go into early menopause such as radiation and chemotherapy. Finally there is premature ovarian failure. This is due to hormonal imbalance and while it does cause early menopause, it is not always permanent.

The ovaries produce estrogen, a sex hormone that is responsible for menstruation, pregnancy, ovulation and the development of secondary sexual characteristics. This sex hormone is also in charge of other parts of the body including the bones, the cardiovascular system, the skin and the brain. During menopause (including the years leading up to menopause) a sharp drop in estrogen may cause women to have some bothersome side effects. This includes the world famous hot flashes, night sweats, a bone thinning disease known as ‘osteoporosis’, vaginal dryness, a loss of interest in sexual intercourse , skin changes and more. These problems can last for up to several years until the period of menopause is well established and the body can adjust to its new normal.

Treatments to ease the transition to menopause involve mainly hormonal replacement therapy (HRT). This treatment can reduce symptoms of menopause by up to 75% however, it is not recommended to be on the treatment for long because synthetic estrogen can increase your risk of developing blood clots and uterine cancer. A natural alternative to HRT includes consuming soybeans and taking the supplement black cohosh. Soybeans contain phytoestrogens that mimic the activity of estrogen in the body, and are readily available in Nigeria in form of soybean powder. If you are experiencing symptoms associated with menopause, try adding a tablespoon of soybean powder to your meals three times a day and drinking a glass of unsweetened soy milk with your meals. Being diligent in helping to reduce the effects of menopause can allow you to embrace and enjoy your new age. Have a healthy and blessed week!

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CategoriesLifestyle

Eating Right for Your Age

by Aquila Effiong

Good nutrition is essential for optimal health at any age, however at each stage in life requires different nutritional demands. In this article, we will explore the different stages in life and

In your 20’s is the start of your adult life; your life out in the real world. You are most likely starting your first real job, getting into the dating scene or getting married, married with very small children, trying to figure out your place in the world. For most people in their 20’s they don’t even think about eating healthy, but this decade is actually the time to start building good eating habits that will benefit you for a lifetime. This includes eating a diet rich in calcium and iron as well as fruits and vegetables. If you are a pregnant or nursing mother make sure to include foods rich in folic acid such as leafy green vegetables, eggs and beans.

In your 30’s, you are most likely established in your career or business and trying to climb up the financial ladder, expanding your network and your net worth. In addition, you might have young school children all of which will drain a lot of your energy. In addition to having adequate sleep, you need to eat a diet rich in vegetables, healthy fats and iron in order to prevent anemia. It is important to reduce your intake of high starch carbohydrates such as white rice and increase your protein consumption with foods such as beans, nuts, skinless chicken and fish. Doing this will keep you full and at the same time, release the required energy to your body in a consistent and sustained way. In your 30s, hormonal imbalances in women that cause issues such as fibroids, endometriosis and heavy menstrual periods tend to be at their peak so it is important to consume a diet rich in iron. A healthy source of iron is spinach and ugwu. Eating ugwu daily gives the same results as taking an iron tablet daily.

By the time you are in your 40’s, your metabolism starts to slow down and you will find it increasingly harder to lose weight, or you might start gaining weight for no apparent reason. For this reason, it is necessary to reduce your portions of food in general while increasing the level of nutrition. This can be done easily with the addition of healthy fats such as that contained in avocado or raw nuts and seeds. Healthy fats will keep you full as provide you with omega 3s which will help keep your skin and hair shiny, in addition to improving your heart health. Foods that contain good amounts of omega 3s include flax and chia seeds, mackerel, tuna fish and walnuts. Furthermore, you will need to increase your fibre and fluid intake. This is because as you start getting older your digestion also slows down.

Moving on to your 50’s and beyond your body is starting to feel the positive or negative effects of the lifestyle and dietary habits you have sustained from the beginning of your adult life up until this point. This is the period in your life some people get diagnosed with a chronic lifestyle illness such as colon cancer, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and the like. Regardless of your diagnosis, it is not too late to start eating right as eating healthy can actually reverse these health problems. As an older adult, you will need to change that mindset of eating like a king at night and really evaluate your diet and lifestyle if you plan to live well into your old age. You will need to increase your calcium and vitamin D, drastically reduce salt intake, increase your fruits and vegetables and eat more fiber than ever before. You will also need to increase your fluid intake and take measures to prevent dehydration.

In conclusion, nutrition at any stage in life is key; however, special considerations should be taken when going through various stages in life especially during childbearing period and older age. We should all endeavor to eat better no matter what age you are and always remember that whatever you put in can affect your overall health eventually. So eat right and stay healthy.

CategoriesDiet

Benefits of Alkaline Water

by Aquila Effiong

Alkaline Water

Alkaline water has become popular in recent years due to a belief that it may benefit health. Below are some of the health benefits of Alkaline water.
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Benefits

Bone health and osteoporosis

A Bicarbonate- And Calcium-Rich Alkali Mineral Water Decreased Bone Resorption More than A Calcium-Rich Acidic Mineral Water

Cancer

There have been growing indicators that Alkaline water aids efficacy of Chemotherapy.

Acid reflux

It found that alkaline water at pH 8.8 stops an enzyme that is connected to reflux disease. It also appeared to reduce the acidity of the stomach contents.

Blood pressure and diabetes

An alkaline diet and water have been linked to increase availability of magnesium by the cells in the human body, this in turn help stimulate Vitamin an important hormone that helps reduce blood pressure if present in appropriate quantity in the blood.

Longevity

Studies have shown that consumption of alkaline water has been directly linked to better metabolic health hence facilitating overall wellness of individuals that consume it. Sources has it that those who drank alkaline water had signs of greater longevity, in other words, they aged less and were more likely to live longer.

Alkaline Water

Alkaline water has become popular in recent years due to a belief that it may benefit health. Below are some of the health benefits of Alkaline water.
Check out quincy products

Benefits

Bone health and osteoporosis

A Bicarbonate- And Calcium-Rich Alkali Mineral Water Decreased Bone Resorption More than A Calcium-Rich Acidic Mineral Water

Cancer

There have been growing indicators that Alkaline water aids efficacy of Chemotherapy.

Acid reflux

It found that alkaline water at pH 8.8 stops an enzyme that is connected to reflux disease. It also appeared to reduce the acidity of the stomach contents.

Blood pressure and diabetes

An alkaline diet and water have been linked to increase availability of magnesium by the cells in the human body, this in turn help stimulate Vitamin an important hormone that helps reduce blood pressure if present in appropriate quantity in the blood.

Longevity

Studies have shown that consumption of alkaline water has been directly linked to better metabolic health hence facilitating overall wellness of individuals that consume it. Sources has it that those who drank alkaline water had signs of greater longevity, in other words, they aged less and were more likely to live longer.
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