Designs for Health

About Designs for Health

Designs For Health, Inc. is a family-owned professional brand and one of the fastest growing manufacturers and distributors of an extensive line of science researched-backed nutritional supplements and dietary foods of high quality. Designs For Health offers their health products exclusively to health professionals and their patients via referral.

Founded in 1989 by health care professionals, Designs for Health's initial focus was to provide nutrition counseling services for the treatment of a broad spectrum of health conditions but quickly moved into providing additional services such as practice development and clinical education to health care professionals. At the same time, the growing demand for high quality nutritional supplements designed by health care professionals made the company expand and also become the manufacturer of such supplements. Designs for Health (DFH) is an NSF and GMP-registered company and has its headquarters in Suffield, Connecticut, and several distribution centers in Florida, Connecticut, and Montana.

Company History

When Designs For Health branded its supplement line, there was a massive request from clinicians for further support and education, alongside advanced training courses dealing with chronic disease-related nutritional approaches. Designs For Health responded to that demand in 1996 when it established three primary divisions (1) Practice Development, (2) Research and Education, and (3) Professional Products whose role was to better serve the brand's customers.

The team that comprises the fundamental building blocks of Designs for Health are nutritionally-minded clinicians that have remained deeply committed to providing the latest scientific nutrition research through ground-breaking conferences and seminars and helping people lead healthier lives. Besides nutritionist training and placement programs and patient workshops, the company also offers additional assistance to health care practitioners with eHealthPro.

The eHealthPro

Based on their first-hand experience and insight, the health care experts behind DFH fully understand the challenges and demands of running a private practice that sells supplements and/or natural medicines. This has led to the development of eHealthPro, a software solution that assists health care practitioners to improve and streamline practice management functions virtually. eHealthPro is specifically designed to allow health care professionals to better serve their patients and bears unique features including dosage and protocols charting and complete natural product inventory control.

What eHealthPro also does is gather all relevant data from a transaction (after a service or product has been prescribed) and deliver that information to the correct modules for purchasing, inventory, credits, invoices, billing, and debts while also updating the patient's record and generating a custom Patient Convenience Chart that contains all details associated to all the prescribed items, as well as dosing instructions.

Key Features of the software:

• Allows for fewer missed appointments.
• Enables improved scheduling.
• Provides quick access to patient records.
• Eliminates duplicate or repetitive entries.
• Minimizes handwritten paperwork.
• Makes insurance processing, record keeping, encoding, and medical billing simpler.
• Ensures more accurate treatment/patient data, collection, and billing.
• Facilitates HIPAA compliance.
• Helps reduce patient drop-out rates

The GI-MAP Test

The GI-MAP is a multiplex molecular stool analysis technology specifically designed to help Integrative and Functional Medicine Practitioners to perform FDA-approved DNA/PCR assays for GI pathogens, including microbes, fungi, parasites, bacteria, and viruses. GI-MAP also tests for normal flora and GI health-related markers, such as occult blood, pancreatic function, immune function, and inflammation. The results are 100% valid (turnaround time between 3-5 days) as Designs for Health has made sure they have fully validated each target organism in their panel.

What is different than other stool tests is that they use the MALDI-TOF (Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight) methodology to track microbes in the stool. So, even though they appear to be DNA-based, they actually rely on cultures from the stool, which does not allow practitioners to measure virulence factors, viruses, and strict anaerobes. Other than that, there is no way to know the exact quantity of any organism that has been reported. Other stool tests use FDA-cleared molecular technology that falls short when it comes to providing a comprehensive stool analysis that includes beneficial or opportunistic organisms (i.e., fungi and protozoa); they give results only for pathogens. Things are significantly different with the molecular/PCR-based assessments of GI-MAP, which is the result of many years of research and the utilization of the latest advancements in FDA-approved, PCR-based DNA technology and assay that is already being used by major hospital labs throughout the country and abroad.

Finally, DNA/PCR techniques allow health care practitioners to measure both pathogenicity-contributing virulence factors and antibiotic resistance genes, which help determine the most effective treatments.

Shutting Down Unauthorized Resellers

The practitioner channel dietary supplement company has been fighting for nearly 12 months against unauthorized companies and resellers of its health products and nutritional supplements, who often opened a wholesale account with Designs for Health and then removed the barcodes and expiration dates and sold them on Amazon.com. This struggle to protect public health came to an end last August when the company won the lawsuit against the imposters and forced them to stop their illegal activities and pay a hefty fine in damages. Designs For Health has made it clear that they do enable qualified health experts to offer Designs For Health products on their personal website, provided that the brand has control over who buys its supplements as a means to make sure every customer has indeed been recommended to use these supplements or medical foods.

Designs For Health is a science first professional brand that insists that its high quality supplements are purchased mainly from qualified health care practitioners and the company is actively involved in educating health care practitioners as to their safe therapeutic use. It's also the reason why it has initiated the DFH Rewards program - a free program that provides a convenient purchasing options for their patients to help ensure they (the patients) receive an appropriate consultation and that the practitioners remain the go-to person to recommend and distribute Designs for Health supplements.

AcuAtlanta is an authorized reseller of Designs For Health nutritional supplements.

Notable Designs For Health Nutritional Supplements & Vitamins

5-HTP Supreme - A formula that contains Vitamin B6 and 5-HTP (hydroxytryptophan) to help support the metabolism of the neurotransmitters. It allows the conversion of 5-HTP into serotonin, which, in turn, contributes to healthy mood. The formula also supports bedtime sleep and appetite.

Acetyl L-Carnitine - The ingredients of this formula contribute to the transfer and utilization of energy-producing long-chain fatty acids. They also help regulate the most crucial activities of blood vessels and organs and allow the normal communication between muscles and cells.

Aloe/200x - A formula that fosters immune function. To make one pound of this extract, one needs 200 pounds of Aloe Vera inner gel fillets. The plant's natural makeup is retained to the maximum possible by keeping the product below 99 degrees F (low-heat dehydration system) and never filtering it.

BCAA Powder - The carefully combined ingredients of this Designs For Health high quality formula help build muscle tissue, reduce muscle breakdown during exercise, stimulate the building of muscle protein, and regulate protein metabolism. BCAA Powder also supports the immune system. Free of artificial sweeteners (sweetened with stevia), fructose, and lactose.

Brain Vitale - It supports healthy memory, mood, and cognition, contributes to brain health, and provides antioxidant protection and cell energy production. It contains brain-supportive nutrients as well as a unique coffee fruit concentrate.

Digestzymes - A proprietary blend of ingredients that foster the digestions of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins and the easy breakdown of the daily sugar lactose, and peptides casomorphin, and gluteomorphin. It minimizes bloating, and alleviates symptoms of fullness after consuming a small quantity of food or gas after eating.

GI Microb-X - A blend of herbs that helps maintain the microbial balance in the gastrointestinal tract.

Immunitone Plus - A formula comprised of herbal ingredients that fosters the healthy function of the immune system during cold and flu season and promotes a normal immune system response.

Kidney Korrect - It has been evidenced that the compounds of this formula can support healthy kidney function. Due to its ingredients, Kidney Korrect is particularly effective in protecting the kidney function (and physiology), provide healthy fasting glucose levels, enhance the health of the heart, immune system, and circulatory system, keep blood pressure within normal levels, and promote healthy endothelial function.

Mood-Stasis - A combination of herbs and vitamins that foster a positive mood and calmness.

Oil of Oregano - It has a potent intestinal cleaning effect and strong antioxidant properties that contribute to a healthy microbial balance.

OsteoForce - It provides considerable support for healthy bones and also offers a wide range of minerals and vitamins for maximum bone health.

PharmaGABA - The formula is a bioidentical GABA, a naturally-occurring amino acid in the brain, which functions as a calming agent for the body, especially during periods of high stress.

Prostate Supreme - It is specifically created to meet the needs of men over 45 that wish to maintain healthy prostate function. The formula helps keep hormones related to prostate health into balance while also providing potent antioxidant support.

Thyroid Synergy - It fosters normal thyroid function and healthy insulin, blood glucose, and cortisol levels. It contains essential minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients that deliver optimal results with the consumption of 2 capsules of Thyroid Synergy per day.

Whole Body Collagen - A formula with particular benefits to skin elasticity, joint health, and bone strength by supporting the production of collagen. It is a blend of three patented collagen peptides that also promote body renewal.

*You should always consult with a qualified health care professional before starting any exercise, diet or supplement regimen.