Balancing your inner and outer “alchemē” might be a little easier now with a new La Jolla wellness center offering “rebellious health.”
Actively seeking to change how La Jolla views wellness, Alchemē (styled “ALCHEMĒ”) is now open at 909 Prospect St, Suite 100C. Now in a “soft open” phase, the wellness center will celebrate its Village touchdown with a grand opening Friday, Sept 5.
Alchemē focuses primarily on functional medicine, the “internal aspect” of wellness, brand representative Kiwii Juszczyk said. “If you’re feeling good on the inside, you look good on the outside.”
The internal component – called “inner alchemē” (pronounced “alchemy”) – comprises hormone replacement, IV treatments, vitamin shots, peptides and more.
Inner health is carefully balanced with “the outer alchemē,” Juszczyk said, which is the esthetic treatments including Botox, lasers, fillers, exosomes and many others.
Alchemē is also partnered with Healios laser therapy, aimed at chronic pain relief and injury recovery; and Concierge Ketamine, which offers treatments targeting anxiety, depression and other conditions.
Balancing inner and outer for alchemic optimization
The inclusion of, and distinction between, inner and outer alchemēs is critical for optimizing health, according to naturopathic physician Natalie Greenberg (whose patients call her “Dr Natalie”)..
The skin is our largest organ, a reflection of what’s happening internally, she added. Outer alchemē will provide “super immediate results, where you see change in the skin right away.”
People then should focus on maintaining that skin health to extend the time between treatments, she said, as the effectiveness of topical treatments will require constant maintenance without inner alchemē.
“Fine lines and wrinkles will start to fade. If we have hormone support on board, and we have that gut health in order, they do synergize,” Greenberg said.
Addressing health inside and out is “where you really get the best benefit.”
Naturopathic medicine is important for wellness, Greenberg said. The nutrient component integrates balance into the gastrointestinal system, offering a boost of absorption close to 99 percent (whereas supplements are diluted and filtered through digestion).
Focusing on gut and hormonal health supports optimization, she said. “There’s so much working against us. We need all the help we can get.”
Addressing hormonal imbalances and transitions with bioidenticals and peptides, which signal molecules to stimulate certain mechanisms, eases external conditions.
Alchemē’s functional medicine consultations, during which Greenberg suggests comprehensive testing to pinpoint intracellular deficiencies and tailor protocols to each client, both inner and outer, leads to the clinic’s “very bio-individual approach,” she said.
At other places, treatment templates exist and “you just sign up,” she said. “We want to figure out what’s really going to get you the results.”
“Rebellious health for vibrant living”
With an approach of “rebellious health for vibrant living,” Alchemē chief executive Tracy Younger founded the company in 2016 in Little Italy, opening another location in One Paseo a few years later.
Younger, also a co-founder of Concierge Ketamine, created Alchemē to reveal how “functional medicine is an alternative to feeling great, instead of just popping pills,” Juszczyk said.
“Rebellious health” goes against the grain of traditional methods and promoting pharmaceuticals, he said.
“Sadly, ‘rebellious health’ now is what traditional medicine used to be,” Greenberg said. “We’ve moved into this pharmaceutical field, where people can’t get true healthcare. We’re practicing ‘sick care.’”
For optimized, actual healthcare now, “you have to be a rebel and eat from the farmers market [drink from] water filters and do these vitamin injections, which seems so foreign. But that’s really what healthcare was traditionally,” she said.
In La Jolla, Alchemē is bringing that rebellious healthcare to the forefront, with hyper-focused, first-of-their kind offerings like memberships for peptides, Juszczyk said.
And with other niche treatments like the Healios lasers and Concierge Ketamine sessions, combined with the established success of functional medicine, “I’m really proud of how Alchemē is at the forefront of constantly innovating,” he said.
Upgrading the past
Alchemē in La Jolla now occupies the space abruptly abandoned by Beverly Hills Rejuvenation Center, which shuttered unexpectedly in February, leaving employees without pay and clients with prepaid packages yet to be refunded.
Juszczyk himself worked for BHRC La Jolla and Del Mar before leaving months ahead of the closure, “once my values with patient care no longer aligned with the company’s,” he said, winding up working for Alchemē and helping Younger establish the new, upgraded La Jolla office.
Alchemē is offering those “burned by BHRC” categories of options, Juszczyk said, with “special initial new patient discounts.”
All Alchemē clients have the option to pay as they go or sign on for packages; the latter will come with discounts and varying modalities for everything from inner and outer alchemēs, he said.
All package and membership offerings vary greatly from previous companies’ policies, Juszczyk said, with funds not held for later use.
