Neurodevelopmental Support
ADHD, autism spectrum differences, developmental complexity, behavior, emotional regulation, and learning-related concerns.
Pediatrics & Family Health
Whole-person pediatric and family care, guided by time, trust, and thoughtful medicine.
At SANAVITA Health, Pediatrics & Family Health is designed for families who want more than a rushed visit. Led by Dr. Thiago Cavalcante, NMD, this branch of care supports newborns, children, teens, young adults, parents, and whole families through a naturopathic, relationship-centered approach.
Overview
Thoughtful care for growing children and the families who love them.
Children are constantly changing — physically, emotionally, developmentally, and socially. Their care should reflect that. SANAVITA Health offers naturopathic pediatric and family care that takes time to understand your child’s story, your family’s goals, and the many factors that influence health, including nutrition, sleep, digestion, immune resilience, development, environment, stress, and daily rhythms.
Your Physician
Meet Dr. Thiago Cavalcante, NMD
Dr. Thiago Cavalcante, NMD provides Pediatrics & Family Health services at SANAVITA Health. His approach is warm, thorough, and family-centered, with an emphasis on helping parents better understand their child’s health and feel more confident in the next steps.
He trained in medicine across two countries and brings depth in pediatric and family care, neurodevelopmental health, and integrative psychiatry — meeting each family with time, attention, and a whole-child perspective.
A Deeper Lens for Complex Cases
Advanced training for chronic complex and neurodevelopmental care.
Some children need more than a symptom-by-symptom approach. Dr. Cavalcante's advanced fellowship training in Pediatric Functional & Integrative Psychiatry supports a broader clinical lens for children and teens with layered concerns involving behavior, mood, development, digestion, sleep, immune triggers, environmental exposures, nutrition, and family stressors.
Advanced Training · In Progress
Pediatric Functional & Integrative Psychiatry Fellowship
Psychiatry Redefined
An advanced fellowship program focused on helping clinicians better understand the biological, nutritional, metabolic, environmental, developmental, and family-based contributors that can influence child and adolescent mental health.
Neurodevelopmental SupportNutritional PsychiatryGut-Brain HealthChronic Complex CasesFunctional Medicine TestingFamily-Centered Care
This training is currently in progress, expected July 2026. It reflects an area of active professional development and ongoing clinical education — not board certification in psychiatry or any other licensed specialty.
What This Training Adds to Dr. Cavalcante's Clinical Lens
This advanced training supports a broader whole-child assessment framework for children and teens with layered concerns. It does not replace pediatric, psychiatric, psychological, or emergency care.
Gut-Brain & Nutritional Psychiatry
Nutrition, micronutrient status, gut microbiome, digestion, inflammation, and the gut-brain connection.
Chronic Complex Pediatric Cases
Layered cases involving immune triggers, environmental exposures, infections, mold, Lyme, PANS/PANDAS considerations, mast cell concerns, and complex symptom patterns.
Functional Medicine Testing
Targeted lab assessment, biomarkers, nutritional patterns, metabolic health, inflammation, hormones, and individualized case interpretation.
How Care Works
A clear path, at your family’s pace.
Start with a Free Discovery Call
A short, no-pressure introduction to see whether SANAVITA Health is the right fit for your family.
Establish care with a New Pediatric Visit
A comprehensive first visit to understand your child’s full health story and build an individualized plan.
Continue with Follow-Up Visits
Ongoing visits to review progress, refine the plan, and support your child as their needs evolve.
Use Well Child Assessments
Periodic whole-child check-ins for growth, neurodevelopment, milestones, and preventive wellness.
Schedule Sick Visits when needed
Focused support for minor acute concerns, offered initially by telehealth for established patients.
Services
Pediatrics & Family Health Visits
Dr. Thiago Cavalcante, NMD provides family-centered naturopathic care through visit types designed to support children, teens, parents, and families at different stages of care.
Not sure which visit type is right for your family?
Start with a Free Discovery Call — a brief, no-pressure conversation to help guide you toward the right next step.
Schedule a Free Discovery CallLabs & Testing
Clues to the bigger picture.
When clinically appropriate, targeted testing may help reveal patterns that are difficult to see from symptoms alone.
Not every child needs advanced testing. For children with chronic, recurring, or complex concerns, labs can sometimes provide helpful clues. Dr. Thiago Cavalcante Ribeiro, NMD interprets results within the context of your child's history, symptoms, development, nutrition, sleep, environment, and family goals. Each result is considered one piece of a larger puzzle — not a standalone answer.
Your Child's
Health Story
Symptoms & timeline
Growth & development
Nutrition & diet
Sleep patterns
Digestion
Immune patterns
Environment
Family history
Stress physiology
Lab clues
Chronic or complex concerns rarely come from a single factor. Our goal is to understand the pattern, not chase isolated results.
Testing Categories
Explore what different types of testing may reveal.
Think of each test as one clue. A stool test may offer insight into gut-brain patterns. Nutrient testing may reveal support needs for growth, energy, mood, or immune resilience. Environmental testing may point toward exposures worth addressing. Together, these clues can help guide a more personalized and practical care plan.
Basic bloodwork can provide a broad overview of health patterns — including blood count, iron status, metabolic markers, liver and kidney function, thyroid patterns, vitamin D, and other foundational markers when appropriate.
Clues it may provide
- Nutrient status patterns
- Anemia or iron-related patterns
- Thyroid-related patterns
- Blood sugar and metabolic patterns
- General inflammation or organ function clues
Some children may benefit from a closer look at nutritional status, micronutrients, amino acids, fatty acids, blood sugar patterns, mitochondrial-related markers, or metabolic stress patterns when clinically appropriate.
Clues it may provide
- Nutrient insufficiency patterns
- Energy and mitochondrial support needs
- Blood sugar stability patterns
- Fatty acid balance clues
- Oxidative stress or metabolic strain patterns
Digestive testing may help evaluate stool patterns, microbiome balance, digestion, absorption, and possible microbial imbalances. The gut-brain connection can be an important part of understanding behavior, mood, and development.
Clues it may provide
- Microbiome balance
- Digestive enzyme or absorption patterns
- Inflammatory markers in the gut
- Yeast, bacterial, or parasitic patterns when appropriate
- Gut-brain connection clues
In some cases, food-related immune reactivity testing may help identify patterns that can be interpreted alongside symptoms, diet history, digestion, skin concerns, behavior, and other clinical findings.
Clues it may provide
- Possible food reactivity patterns
- Immune activation clues
- Relationship between food, gut, skin, and behavior patterns
- Diet planning considerations
Food sensitivity testing provides one piece of the picture and is interpreted carefully alongside the child's full clinical history. It is not definitive or required for every child.
For children with recurring or complex concerns, immune and inflammatory markers may help clarify whether the body is showing patterns of ongoing immune activation or inflammatory burden that warrant further attention.
Clues it may provide
- Inflammatory activity patterns
- Immune balance clues
- Autoimmune-related screening considerations when appropriate
- Chronic immune stress patterns
Environmental testing may be considered when there is concern about mold exposure, heavy metals, chemical exposures, or other environmental contributors. Results are interpreted carefully within the full clinical context.
Clues it may provide
- Mold-related exposure patterns
- Heavy metal burden clues
- Chemical exposure patterns
- Detoxification support considerations
- Home and environmental health considerations
In certain chronic or complex presentations, testing may help evaluate whether infectious or immune-trigger patterns could be contributing to the child's symptom picture. These findings are interpreted carefully and within appropriate clinical context.
Clues it may provide
- Recent or past infection-related patterns
- Immune response clues
- PANS/PANDAS-adjacent considerations when clinically appropriate
- Viral, bacterial, or tick-borne exposure patterns when appropriate
Findings are considered one part of the clinical picture and do not constitute a diagnosis of infectious or immune-triggered conditions.
For some children and teens, testing may help evaluate patterns related to stress physiology, cortisol rhythm, thyroid function, puberty-related hormones, or sleep-related health factors when clinically appropriate.
Clues it may provide
- Stress physiology patterns
- Thyroid-related clues
- Circadian rhythm considerations
- Puberty or hormone-related patterns
- Sleep support planning clues
For children with attention, behavior, learning, sensory, developmental, or emotional regulation concerns, testing may help identify supportive patterns related to nutrition, gut-brain health, inflammation, metabolism, environmental exposures, and immune triggers.
Clues it may provide
- Nutritional and metabolic support needs
- Gut-brain patterns
- Immune or inflammatory clues
- Environmental or toxicant considerations
- Personalized care planning insights
Testing does not diagnose autism, ADHD, learning differences, developmental delays, or behavioral conditions. Findings are considered alongside the child's full developmental, medical, and family context.
Patients are responsible for lab costs. Coverage or reimbursement may vary depending on the lab, test type, and insurance plan. Testing recommendations are individualized and discussed with families.
The Process
How testing fits into care.
Testing is a tool within a broader care process — not the starting or ending point.
Listen to the story
We begin with a detailed history — timeline, symptoms, development, family goals, nutrition, sleep, environment, and prior records.
Identify meaningful clues
When clinically appropriate, targeted testing may be recommended to explore specific patterns — not every child, not every test.
Connect the pieces
Results are interpreted alongside the child's whole health story — not in isolation. Each result is one clue, not a standalone answer.
Refine the plan
Findings may help guide nutrition, lifestyle, environmental, digestive, sleep, immune, or follow-up support tailored to your child.
A note on testing
Testing is individualized. Not every child needs advanced labs, and testing is never used as a substitute for clinical judgment, emergency care, or appropriate pediatric or specialty evaluation. Any recommendations are discussed with families and selected based on clinical relevance, safety, and the child's individual needs.
Not sure whether testing may be appropriate for your child?
New families should begin with a Free Discovery Call before scheduling a New Patient Visit. Dr. Cavalcante will then review your child's history and discuss whether any targeted testing may be relevant to your family's goals. Established patients may book the appropriate visit type directly.
When to seek urgent or emergency care
SANAVITA Health is not an urgent care or emergency care facility. Some symptoms require immediate in-person evaluation.
- Respiratory distress or difficulty breathing
- Signs of dehydration
- Severe allergic reactions
- Trauma or injury
- Uncontrolled fever
- Fever in infants under a certain age
- Lethargy, confusion, or significant change in behavior
- Severe pain
- Persistent vomiting
- Any symptom that feels severe, rapidly worsening, or unsafe to manage at home
When in doubt, families should seek urgent or emergency medical care.
Coming Soon
NeuroWell
A 12-month physician-guided program for complex neurodevelopmental support.
NeuroWell is a coming-soon, family-centered program designed to support children with more complex neurodevelopmental needs. This structured, physician-guided program is being developed to help families navigate layered concerns involving behavior, mood, development, digestion, sleep, immune and inflammatory patterns, environmental health, and nutrition.
NeuroWell is being designed for children with concerns such as developmental delays, sensory differences, attention and behavioral challenges, learning differences, autism spectrum support needs, PANS/PANDAS-adjacent concerns, sleep dysregulation, gut-brain concerns, and related neurodevelopmental patterns.
What the program will include
- Monthly physician-guided visits
- Parent coaching and education
- Nutrition planning
- Digestive and gut-brain support
- Sleep support
- Immune and inflammatory pattern support
- Environmental health considerations
- Testing when clinically appropriate
- Follow-up care and plan refinement
- Care coordination when appropriate
NeuroWell is not a cure-based program and does not guarantee specific outcomes. The program is designed to provide structured naturopathic support, education, and care planning for families navigating complex neurodevelopmental needs.
Begin with a conversation.
Choosing care for your child is personal. At SANAVITA Health, we believe families deserve time, clarity, and a supportive relationship with a physician who listens.