LION HEART MEDICAL CENTER
NATUROPATHIC
FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE
Big Bear Lake
Los Angeles
TeleHealth
Our Mission
To improve the health and wellness of patients by identifying underlying causes of illness, using the least invasive treatments, and honoring the healing power of nature.
Dr. Tamara Smith, ND
Dr. Tamara Smith is a board-certified licensed naturopathic doctor who practices functional integrative medicine. She is committed to restoring the wellness of her patients by using natural traditional therapies. She has a deep faith that once blockages of dysfunction are removed, the inherent healing process within us all can be revived to prevent further illness and maintain optimal health.
Dr. Smith views the body as complex with all systems interacting, communicating, supporting, and potentially hurting each other. One system cannot be treated without addressing the others. Her goal for all her patients is to avoid the need for higher level therapies, support general wellness, use only natural therapies for illness prevention, and to solely rely on the body’s inherent ability to heal itself.
Dr. Tamara Smith grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. She attended the University of California in Santa Barbara for her undergraduate studies, receiving her premedical Bachelor's degree in Biopsychology, as well as another Bachelor's degree in Religious Studies in 1999. She attended medical school at Bastyr University in Seattle receiving a Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine in 2005. She obtained her medical license in California in 2006 and started her practice in Los Angeles, where she worked for 17 years.
Dr. Smith currently lives and practices locally in Big Bear Lake, California. She also sees patients elsewhere via TeleHealth. She works with adults and children. She loves the outdoors, camping, hiking, swimming, skiing, running, and is a voracious reader, often getting lost in a good novel.
SPECIALTY IN PEDIATRIC NEUROLOGICAL DYSFUNCTION
- Traumatic Brain Injuries
- Cerebral Palsy
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Autistic Spectrum Disorders
- Co-existing problems with the immune, hormonal and digestive symptoms
- Herbs and nutrients to support neurological structure and communication
- Capsules, tinctures, feeding tube formulas, breathing treatments and creams
Dr. Smith’s Personal Story as a Mother
She started working with children with neurodevelopmental disorders, cerebral palsy and traumatic brain injuries in 2008. In 2013 devastation hit her own home. Her son Eddie suffered a severe traumatic brain injury from a near-drowning tragedy. He was only 21 months old. She became a mother just like all the parents she had been working with. Eddie was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and had to live with a trach tube, ventilator, feeding tube and severe medical fragility and disability. He sadly passed away in 2023 at the age of 11. Dr. Smith already had a passion for working with kiddos like her own, but then this passion became personal and deeply rooted.
GENERAL CONDITIONS
- Adults and pediatrics
- Complex Chronic Illness
- Autoimmune Disease
- Gut Dysfunction
- Neurological Dysfunction
- Anxiety and Depression
- Hormone Balance
- Hypothyroid
- Mold and Environmental Toxicity
DIAGNOSTICS
- General and specified bloodwork
- Organic acids test
- GI microbiome stool test
- Hormone and cortisol panels
- Food allergies (acute and chronic)
- Environmental inhalant allergies
- Heavy metals
- Environmental toxins
- Mycotoxins (mold toxins)
- Home mold testing
- Nutritional status
Dr. Smith uses various labs from across the country that are best known for the tests they run using well-researched methods with sensitive and reliable results. Labs used include Mosaic Diagnostics, Diagnostic Solutions, DiagnosTechs, IGeneX, Cyrex Labs and Quest.
TREATMENTS
- Botanical medicine
- Targeted nutrients
- Hormone replacement
- Detoxification
- Food allergy elimination and therapeutic diets
- General nutrition
- Lifestyle changes (such as how to avoid environmental toxins and teaching hydrotherapy techniques)
QUALITY PRODUCTS
Dr. Smith only uses the highest quality of professional products. She is very selective about sources of ingredients, nutrient formulations and herbal extractions.
There are many problems with the modern supplement industry:
There are multiple forms of nutrients. It may say on the label it is the correct nutrient, but it is the wrong form. An example is magnesium, which has many forms, including citrate, glycinate, threonate and others, all of which have different functions.
Supplements often include forms of nutrients that are less absorbable in the gut. A common example is iron, often seen as ferrous sulfate. However, the form of iron best absorbed is ferrous bis-glycinate, which has no gastric side effects and better supports the blood.
The primary ingredient needed might be correct, but the “inactive” fine print ingredients are not good. Often they can be toxic, such as when certain preservatives or colors are added.
With Dr. Smith you can fully trust with absolute certainty that you are only getting the best quality products and treatments!
APPOINTMENTS
FREE
15-minute consult. Questions about the practice, if the center can treat your concerns. No discussion about treatments, no specific plans made.
$115
30-minute general wellness consult. Introduction discussion about general wellness. What everyone should be doing and taking to support basic health. No discussion of individual health concerns. Treatments can be ordered and refilled. No labs.
$185
60-minute extended wellness consult for non-patients. Discussion about general wellness and your primary health concerns. Brief intake of history. Treatments can be ordered and refilled. No labs. This consult cannot be repeated. If desired to continue and become an established patient of the practice, a 2-hour comprehensive appointment will have to be scheduled.
$350
2-hour comprehensive appointment. Establishing as a new patient to practice. Complete detailed in-depth intake, full history of illness and concerns, patient-specific treatment plan created, and treatments ordered. Exam performed if in-office appointment. Labs ordered. Follow-up appointment will be scheduled.
$195
60-minute general follow-up appointment for established patients. Evaluating treatment progress and any new concerns. Possible modifications to plan created. Possible new labs ordered. Frequency of follow-up appointments vary with patients and illness. Usually every 1-2 months in the beginning with intervals increasing as improvement is seen.
$250
90-minute extended follow-up appointment for established patients when multiple complex labs are ordered and longer time is required to review and discuss modifications to the treatment plan.
$85
30-minute acute appointment for established patients. Discussion and treatment of acute illness or minor needs.
TeleHealth appointments are the same charge as in-person visits.
**** The center does not bill insurance. Appointments are charged by the center accepting all forms of payment, including HSA. Treatments are ordered by the patients through FullScript, a professional online dispensary. Functional lab testing is paid through the center. At-home collection kits are provided directly or delivered by the lab.
EDDIE SMITH
"Brave Little Lion"
September 23, 2011 - July 22, 2023
My son Eddie suffered a severe traumatic brain injury when he was 21 months old and passed away at the age of 11. His life was too short, but all the doctors told him he would not survive a few days, then a few weeks, months, definitely not one year. Eddie bravely fought and overcame so many obstacles along the way when he easily could have let go. He constantly surprised doctors with his miraculous recoveries. It took courage for him to want to heal and to choose the difficult journey. Healing is not always easy. You have to climb mountains and cross valleys. But when you choose to have the heart of a lion and take that journey you will overcome obstacles just like my little boy did.