Welcome to our wellness and weight loss client Frequently Asked Questions page!
Although most people will never experience any negative affects while using our wellness, weight loss, anti-aging protocols, we do understand the questions you raise.
Below you’ll see a list that we’ve compiled over the years of our most frequently asked questions.
If you do not see your specific question here you may always email us for support at: support@equi.life.
Domestic Ground (contiguous United States):
• Weekday orders placed before 12pm EST are processed the same day.
• Orders arrive within 3 - 5 business days.
Domestic UPS 2 Day Express (contiguous United States):
• Weekday orders placed before 12pm EST are processed the same day.
• Orders arrive within 2 business days.
Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico:
• Weekday orders placed before 12pm EST are processed the same day.
• Orders arrive within 2 business days.
APO (Air/Army Post Office), FPO (Fleet Post Office), and DPO (Diplomatic Post Office):
• Weekday orders placed before 12pm EST are processed the same day.
• Order times may vary – can take up to six weeks or longer.
International:
• Weekday orders placed before 12pm EST are processed the same day.
• Orders arrive within 3-5 business days.
• Import taxes and tariffs may also apply and are calculated separately as determined by your country.
Dr. Cabral has created an exclusive “how-to” cheat sheet that comes along with each nutritional supplement package.
This includes a shopping list and guide for the Candida/Bacterial Overgrowth Protocol, Allergy Protocol, and the Parasite Protocol.
Contiguous United States Orders & Shipping:
• Orders over $99 = Free Shipping Ground (3 - 5 Business Days).
• Orders of $99 and under = $7.95 Flat Rate (3 - 5 Business Days).
• 2-Day UPS Express Shipping = Rate as charged by UPS.
• Weekday Orders placed before Noon (EST) are processed same-day.
Hawaii, Alaska & Puerto Rico:
• Exact shipping charges are determined at the time of checkout based on the number of items, item type, weight and volume of all the items in the cart.
International Orders & Shipping:
• Exact shipping charges are determined at the time of checkout based on the number of items, item type, weight and volume of all the items in the cart.
• International taxes, tariffs and value-added tax (VAT), along with shipping charges will be calculated into your final order total during Checkout. International taxes, tariffs, and value-added tax (VAT) costs are determined by each individual country. We have no control over these amounts and 100% of these costs are paid to the country. By collecting these funds up-front, your order will be expedited locally and delivered without interruption. You will not be required to pay any additional fees (no COD) at the time of order delivery.
• The goods will be imported on behalf of the consignee/buyer. The consignee authorizes EquiLife to import the goods on his behalf. Further, the consignee/buyer agrees EquiLife may delegate the obligation to import the goods on his behalf to a subcontractor (e.g. customs broker). The consignee will pay the taxes & duties in addition with the purchase price of the goods.
We offer all functional medicine brands at the lowest price. However, bulk orders are available at a discount by selecting multiple quantities. This option is available for most of our products.
Thank you for your purchase and loyalty. We appreciate your support and are committed to your full satisfaction!
RETURN POLICY ON NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS
To make a return, please email Customer Support, support@equi.life with your returns request. Customer Support will respond within 24 hours providing you your Returns Authorization and Instructions. Upon receipt of your box into our returns facility, we will process your return within 48 hours.
Absolutely! We pride ourselves on creating the best customer experience! If you have any questions, please email us at support@equi.life, Monday – Friday (8:30am – 5:30pm EST).
You can manage your subscription details with your Equilibrium Nutrition account. Simply navigate to the "Login" portal (upper-left hand corner of screen) and once logged in click "Manage Subscriptions". All details of your subscriptions can be edited there.
Yes, you may eat potatoes without the skin. Sweet potatoes, yams, and non-white potatoes are always a better choice.
Breakfast should be your specified smoothie, which includes the daily nutritional support powder as well as one cup of berries. For most people, on week two, you may add in 1 cup of greens like spinach, or 1 tablespoon of the daily fruit and vegetable blend. Week three, you can try adding up to 1 tablespoon of coconut oil.
One of the fastest ways to heal is to ask the body to use less energy for digestion. When the body is just waking up first thing in the morning, you do not want it to try to digest a heavy meal. However, instead of having the smoothie, you may eat a bowl of fruit on the side, mix the shake powder with water, and consume them separately.
Unless you’ve been specifically told that you can eat grains such as rice, oats, quinoa, or buckwheat, please exclude them for the first three weeks. If you were instructed to, then try them one at a time. You can do that by adding half a cup at lunch.
For breakfast, you can just bring the small container of the daily nutritional support powder with you when traveling. You can then have a bowl of fruit along with your shaker bottle filled up with 16 to 20 ounces of water and two scoops of the powder for breakfast. Lunch and dinner will remain the same whether eating out or not. You can just choose a simple fish dish at a restaurant with 1 to 2 sides of vegetables and an optional rice or sweet potato if desired. You can also have them bring olive oil and lemon slices as a dressing on the side if you would like. If you are beyond the 21–28 days of your initial plan, you can also enjoy a cheat meal once per week.
The once-per-week cheat meal can be any food that you desire. It should not be over the course of one day, but rather at one meal. However, it is ideal not to eat any of the foods that you tested positive for as a food sensitivity.
During the first 28 days of your wellness plan, unless otherwise instructed, you should stick to the foods that are included in the Cabral sensitive gut diet. Unless told otherwise, you can eat any of the proteins, 2 dozen fruits, 3 dozen vegetables, and healthy fats. After 21–28 days of your wellness plan, you may begin adding in the gluten-free grains.
When all digestive, health, or fatigue issues have subsided you may include any proteins, fruits, vegetables, healthy fats (including nuts), and all gluten-free grains that you would like. The only foods we exclude are those that are processed, contain dairy, or that contain gluten. We prefer to reserve those for cheat meals only in order to live and enjoy an overall healthy lifestyle.
No. You may eat any of the foods from the protein, fruit, vegetable, and healthy fat columns unless otherwise instructed. The bolding just represents the foods with the least amount of wellness associated issues.
If you have allergies, acid reflex, or histamine issues, then we do suggest staying away from those foods as best you can for the first 21 days. If you do not have allergies or other histamine issues you do not have to worry about those foods and can include them right away.
Right now, your meal plan is set up as a smoothie for breakfast, a whole food lunch, optional mid afternoon snack, and a whole food dinner. No other snacking should be included initially. The reason for this is that we want to give you three hours at minimum between meals so that all of the food can move through your stomach before adding new food. This should help improve your energy, digestive strength, and other absorption issues.
If you are losing weight or feel hungry, you can always increase the portion sizes of the food included in your plan. For example, you can add 2 cups of berries to your smoothie in the morning and an additional serving of vegetables, gluten-free starches, and protein at lunch and dinner.
Well, it’s normal to lose a few pounds initially due to a drop in inflammation. If you feel like you’re losing too much weight we recommend adding in more carbohydrates at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You may add in another cup of fruit to your smoothie as well as another cup of a gluten-free starch at both lunch and dinner. If this is not enough you may also add additional healthy fats at both lunch and dinner.
If you do not feel tired going into your workout, you can have your shake afterward. If you feel hungry upon waking and don’t think that you can work out without something in your stomach you could consume half of the shake before you work out and half afterward.
We recommend eating a variety of foods such as dairy, eggs, nuts, gluten, soy, avocado, or any other foods that you want to test for 2 to 3 days before completing your food sensitivity test.
The safe starches are listed under the vegetable category as yams, yucca, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and other vegetables. These are acceptable even during the first 21 days. After 21 days you may decide to try some gluten-free grains, which are listed in the yellow column on your one page shopping done.
For the first 21 days, we recommend only using olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon, a pinch of sea salt, black pepper, and any dried herbs or spices as a sauce or dressing. After that, you may include other sauces that are made up of the foods that are on your shopping list.
* 1 cup @BobsRedMill oat flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* ¼ teaspoon Himalayan sea salt
* 2 tablespoons organic maple syrup
* 1 teaspoon alcohol free vanilla or maple extract
* 1 egg (or use vegan 2 TBSP ground flax & water or 1/2 mashed banana)
* 1 cup organic blueberries or other fruit – optional (Frozen or regular)
* 3/4 cup vanilla unsweetened almond or other nut milk
If you’re trying to lose weight you may limit your fruit intake to berries and just have them to 1/2-1 cup with your a.m. smoothie and as a mid afternoon snack if desired.
You may make a soup out of any of the foods listed on your food shopping guide. However, if you are on the CBO protocol it is not advised to use onion or garlic since they can feed yeast and bacteria.
Onions and garlic contain a nutrient called allicin. This product kills yeast, fungus, and bacteria. However, it is typically used in a nutritional supplement form, which is an extract and not the whole food. If someone with yeast or bacterial overgrowth uses the whole food, the prebiotic fibers can feed yeast and bacteria.
A good afternoon snack would consist of a bowl of fruit, a second smoothie, the all in one shake powder with water, a handful of rice crackers and hummus or guacamole, or cut up vegetables and some white bean dip.
Ideally, there is no snacking or eating after dinner. The reason for this is that we are trying to allow for 2 to 3 hours of digestion before getting into bed. This will then allow you to properly detox overnight and work on the gut pathogen removal process. By eating before bed you are restarting back up the digestion process, which can affect both detoxification and sleep quality.
We recommend first choosing grains to add back in slowly (rice and oatmeal first). For any food that you are adding back in, just be sure to only choose one new food at a time to try and monitor for reactions (can try 1 food, several times in 1 week).
Yes – look for organic labels to ensure that it is non-GMO.
All cans contain aluminum or BPA-liners, but just do your best to choose fresh ingredients as able, and use cans sparingly as needed.
Parchment paper is a great alternative for many cooking methods, and just avoid using aluminum with grilling.
You will continue all supplements for 12 weeks unless otherwise stated. After 12 weeks, you will begin to wean off of the nutritional supplements as decided by your health coach or practitioner.
The items that change after the first month are those on the candida or bacterial overgrowth protocol. They are listed in the right-hand column of your personalized wellness plan and they tell you which ones to move to next.
If you are taking Natural Calm, Best Rest Formula, or Melatonin, we recommend that you eliminate all of them for one night and then start back with just one at a time. For example, if you use the natural calm you will not use any of the others that first night. If you don’t feel groggy the next morning, then add the best rest formula. If you do feel groggy with the best rest formula, decrease the capsules to just one and see if you still feel groggy. The goal is to just change one variable at a time until you find out the right dosage for you.
Make sure you are only using 16 ounces of water, 1 cup of blueberries, and two scoops of the Daily Nutritional Support Powder. Also, be sure you are drinking this over a 60-minute time period. This is a hypoallergenic formula and adding an additional food or supplements to this, or drinking it too quickly, could cause bloating. In the future, you may be able to add greens, coconut oil, or other nutritional supplements as your digestion get stronger.
If you have difficulty swallowing nutritional supplements, you may mix them in some puréed food or a smoothie. Please do keep in mind that some herbs are very bitter and may be difficult to take outside of the capsule.
In order to control all variables, in the beginning, we do not recommend using any other nutritional supplements outside of what was recommended. This allows us to make changes and adjustments as needed with your protocol while using a program we know works. Please do continue on all medications you have been prescribed by your MD. In the future, you may be able to add other supplements as well.
Approximately 4 to 6 weeks after beginning your protocol it is recommended that you do an intestinal cleanse. This allows you to remove excess bacteria, yeast, and waste from your intestines to improve gut health.
This is optional, but our wellness clients have seen great improvements after completing the simple 5–7 day protocol.
The protocol is available at Cabral Wellness Institute and online at StephenCabral.com/store and comes with easy to follow instructions. You do not have to worry about staying home from work and it does not cause extreme diarrhea or loose stool. What it does do, is increase your bowel movements to three times per day while removing excess waste from the lining of the intestines.
If you’ve been recommended other nutritional supplements by your functional medicine doctor or health practitioner, you may continue on with those as long as they do not include probiotics, additional fiber, or any protein powders that are not included on your food guide.
If you experience an adverse reaction that has significant impact on your ability to function, please follow these steps to help determine if it is due to one of the supplements, or something else:
1. Have you added in any new foods besides the supplements?If so, remove those for one week – even if they’re healthy vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, hummus, etc.2. If you are having a reaction to the supplements, remove all supplements and wait 5 days. If the symptoms dissipate add 1 new product back in every 3 days and see which one causes the reaction (if any). You can start at just 1 capsule of that product and then increase as able.3. If on the CBO protocol and having a skin reaction, it’s possible the die off is being pushed through the skin. You can stop the CBO Protocol for 5 days and see if symptoms subside. If so, follow step 2 above and work up to a tolerable dosage.
We invite you to join our Facebook Group! See the following link to join:
Please type into the search bar “recipe” to find over 70 Detox and CBO approved meals!
If on the CBO protocol – simply remove onions and garlic from any recipes if included.
Yes, the DNS is safe for use during pregnancy. We also recommend looking into the Complete Pregnancy Package: http://stephencabral.com/store/product/complete-pregnancy-package/
Yes, the recommended dosage for children is a 1/2 scoop for under 50 lbs and 1 scoop at 75 lbs.
If you were working with a health coach, we do recommend 30-minute bi-weekly follow-up.
Dr. Cabral usually meets every 4 to 8 weeks as needed with new wellness clients. After completing your initial 12–16 week protocol, follow-ups are at your discretion.
If you were working with a health coach, you will get advice and suggestions on how to improve your meal planning, food additions, nutritional supplement advice, and other aspects of following through on your wellness protocol will be included. Dr. Cabral offers the same types of recommendations as well as more intricate supplements, lab testing and detoxification protocols.
You can learn all about dry brushing and how to complete a simple detox treatment each morning before you get the shower at this link:
You can learn how to complete an Epsom salt bath and all of its benefits at this link:
You can find out the benefits of using an infrared sauna at this link:
http://stephencabral.com/321-2/
To schedule an infrared sauna, simply look up a wellness center in your community that offers one. We recommend starting with a 25 minute infrared sauna. If you can do a massage before hand it will heighten the detox effects. You can complete an infrared sauna as often as every day if you would like.
You can learn how to do a coffee enema and the benefits of coffee enemas at this link:
The best way to rejuvenate and heal is by getting more hours of sleep before midnight. The reason for this is that when you work with the natural circadian rhythm of your body, it allows you to go to bed a few hours after it gets dark and wake up with the sun. This regulates your body’s ability to produce cortisol upon waking and start to lower cortisol by bedtime which is exactly what should happen. When you are exposed to bright lights at night and stay up late, it produces higher levels of cortisol and decreases melatonin production causing health and sleep issues.
If you ran initial lab tests, follow ups do not need to be done for 4 to 6 months. This is enough time for the body to turn over red blood cells and for you to see the difference on your lab tests.
New clients will need to meet with Dr. Cabral or one of his health coaches before deciding on lab testing. After lab testing has been completed, a follow-up consultation will be scheduled to review those results. If you have already run lab tests in the past and if you are a current wellness client, you do not need to meet with any of the practitioners before picking up a lab test. Lab tests may be purchased by contacting our center. Lab tests do not include a consultation but will need to be scheduled at the time of purchase.
Our health coaches typically meet with their clients every two weeks for a 30 minute call or appointment. Dr. Cabral meets with his clients for their initial appointments as well as a follow-up appointment about 3 to 4 weeks later to review lab results and go over their personalized wellness plan. Consultations should be booked by phone or email at least 2 to 3 weeks in advance since we book out at least that far.
Please go to https://equilibriumnutrition.com/pages/cbo-faq
