Archive: Business & Technology

When Judy Mauk first walked into the Nutritional Wellness Center in Ithaca, she was having difficulty losing weight, was always tired, and just wasn't feeling well. At age 60, she thought her symptoms were simply part of aging.

But after being tested at the Nutritional Wellness Center on Green Street, Mauk changed her diet, avoiding wheat, sugar and pasteurized dairy products, and started using whole-food supplements. "Within the first three months, I noticed a change, but about a year later, I felt like
a totally different person," she says. "I had lots of energy, and I had lost about 9 pounds."

Mauk, a retired administrative assistant at Ithaca College, is one of more than 2,000 people who have been assessed at the Nutritional Wellness Center over the past decade to determine how correcting nutritional deficiencies can address a variety of health concerns, from obesity to insomnia.

This month, the Nutritional Wellness Center will begin celebrating its tenth anniversary with an open house from 6:30 - 8 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 17.The center has also pledged to donate 100 percent of all initial client visit proceeds during January to Healthy Food for All, a non-profit organization in Ithaca that provides community supported agriculture (CSA) shares to low-income families.

The Nutritional Wellness Center was founded by Tara Lambert, a certified nutritional consultant who had sought out nutritional counseling in Oswego, N.Y. in 2003 to resolve her own health issues, which doctors had diagnosed as celiac disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and several other illnesses. After changing her diet and taking whole-food supplements, Lambert's health improved and she decided to open her own  nutrition practice in Ithaca.


From an initial staff of two people, the Nutritional Wellness Center now has eight employees, including three practitioners certified in Nutrition Response Testing from Ulan Nutritional Systems, a training center in Clearwater, Fla. The center was founded by Dr. Freddie Ulan, a chiropractor and certified clinical nutritionist who developed the nutrition-based testing system.

Because Nutrition Response Testing is based on scientific studies, Lambert says the method is supported by many doctors in the Ithaca medical community. "What we do is nutrition," she says. "It's complimentary with medicine; it's not instead of medicine."

Dr. Radomir Stevanovic, who has been practicing internal medicine in Ithaca for more than 25 years, says he often refers his patients to the Nutritional Wellness Center. "Most have had favorable results regarding their weight, nutrition and well-being," he says.

With a growing clientele, the Nutritional Wellness Center hopes to expand in its current location or move to a larger building, Lambert says. "The goal is to really support this community in a healthy way so that everyone is educated on what proper nutrition is so that they're well-informed and able to take control over their health," she says.

v11i47