Dr. Kalyan Gaddam, ND, Director of Integrative Oncology & Rehabilitation Center at the Comprehensive Blood and Cancer Centers (CBCC) in Bakersfield, CA has established a good nutrition program as part of the treatment available to patients at CBCC. Gaddam has been instrumental in spearheading the nutritional program that is offered through the CBCC Health and Wellness Café to provide customized nutrition based on a patient’s diagnosis.
“Lifestyle choices, such as poor eating habits, smoking, overindulging in alcohol and sugar and lack of exercise certainly increase a person’s risk for developing a chronic disease,” said Gaddam. “Treating chronic diseases lead to the nation’s health care costs.”
The Center for Disease Control reports (CDC) that “90% of the nation’s $3.5 trillion in annual health care expenditures are for people with chronic and mental health conditions.”
- More than 868,000 Americans die of heart disease or stroke every year 7 million people in the United States are diagnosed with cancer and almost 600,000 die
- More than 34.2 million Americans have diabetes and another 88 million adults have prediabetes, putting them at risk for type 2 diabetes.
- Obesity affects 19% of children and 42% of adults, adding risk for chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers.
- Other diseases such as arthritis, Alzheimer’s Disease, epilepsy and tooth decay also top the list of serious diseases afflicting millions of Americans.
“Eating healthy is a substantial part of lowering the risk for developing chronic disease,” said Gaddam. “A balanced diet of fruit and veggies, whole grains, lean meat and low-fat dairy products is important and can even help peel off extra pounds. “But,” said Gaddam, “Once a disease is present, nutritional needs often change and the challenge becomes how to provide specialized nutrition solutions that meet the special needs of patients and improve their quality of life.”
Gaddam said that conditions like cachexia, also known as “wasting syndrome,” which is common to cancer, HIV, chronic renal failure and multiple sclerosis, causes weight loss, weakness, low energy, muscle loss, anemia and anorexia, are difficult to address with a regular healthy diet. ” Traditional nutritional support has not been successful in cancer cachexia. Most of the commercially available products have shown little to no effect,” said Gaddam.
“Focusing on nutrition and natural ways to overcome pain and illness have always been at the center of my medical career. I’m fortunate to have a comprehensive breadth of practice to call upon and putting my research and experience to work on the nutritional project with our Health Wellness Café, here at CBCC, is making a difference in the qualify of life for our patients,” said Gaddam.
Gaddam is the first Naturopathic Doctor to work with CBCC and is responsible for helping establish CBCC’s integrative cancer center for Naturopathic and integrative health services. He led the research teams that developed natural nutritional products for Ayush Herbs and YouVeda, LLC, presented the results of a clinical study at the 2019 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and most recently released Aaku Everyday Greens, a balanced and versatile nutritional product developed specifically to decrease the risk many diseases including cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease and other serious diseases and is suitable for those with allergies and sensitive stomachs.
Dr. Kalyan Gaddam, ND received his doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine from internationally recognized Bastyr University in Seattle, WA. After completing his graduate work with a degree in Naturopathic Medicine, homeopathic medicine and surgery in India, Dr. Gaddam has worked with leaders in the field of integrative naturopathic oncology. He is on the Board of Directors for Youveda LLC, personalized nutrition, and is an active member of the California Association of Naturopathic Medicine (CNDA), Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians and American Association of Naturopathic Medicine (AANP).
