Lead toxicity. Still a big problem, and there is NO safe exposure level. Get tested!
Did you know that the CDC just reduced the exposure limit in kids for lead to 5ug/dL? It was 10ug/dL before that.
Details
A Farm-Raised Tale about Farm-Raised Salmon
I was hanging out at Whole Foods Market (WFM) last night. It was the grand-opening day. Kind of embarrassing to admit such a thing would get me going, but it did.
Details
Nutra India Summit
I had the privilege of presenting an overview of Functional Medicine at the 8th annual Nutra India Summit in Mumbai, India, a few weeks ago, some of which is available on YouTube.
Details
For the Twelve Days of Christmas My True Love Challenged the Conclusion of the 2012 JAMA Meta-Analysis
On the first day of Christmas, my true love pondered: Of all the supplements out there, fish oils are one of the best accepted and most widely used because the research on it is so plentiful
Details
Book Review: Almost Finished
June 10, 2013 – I want to introduce you to an exquisite book that I’ve been reading. It’s called Almost Finished. It’s a memoir by Justine Bowen-Jones. Justine lost her father to pancreatic cancer when she was six years old. Before he died, her father– poet and English professor Jim Bowen–wrote her letters to accompany her through her life. This book contains his letters and her responses.
Details
Feed Your Refrigerator! How to Make Your Tricky Diet Work
Today I want to highlight a cooking concept that I think is absolutely invaluable to anyone who needs to start cooking all meals from scratch and finds it hard to make the time to cook extensively at each mealtime. It is this: “feeding” your refrigerator (and freezer) with leftovers and prepped, ready-to-cook ingredients. Once you…
Details
Gardening Tips for An Easy Allergy Fix!
Obviously, the plants around us make pollen- the bane of the seasonal allergy sufferer’s existence. But did you know that because of our planting habits in the US we’ve drastically increased the amount of pollen-producing plants, significantly contributing to the epidemic that is seasonal allergies? Pollen producers are pretty much always male plants. And male…
Details
Getting Busy With Some Sleep..Zzzzzzzzz
You know, we are SOOO busy when we sleep. Contrary to popular belief, good quality sleep is an active experience where our bodies are engaged in really important metabolic work. For instance, during sleep hours we are detoxifying up a storm. In fact during sleep, the brain dumps loads of neurotoxins including beta-amyloid, the protein…
Details
The BPA Problem and What To Do About It
As I’m sure many of you are well aware, BPA (bisphenol A) is a known endocrine disrupter, altering hormone-related activity even at low levels of exposure. Studies have linked BPA toxicity to adverse effects on reproduction, the nervous system and behavioral development (including aggressiveness and hyperactivity). A recent human study has even shown that BPA…
Details
Kicking the Sugar Habit
Why it be so hard to give up sugar? Hmmm, could it be something to do with how pervasive and immediately-available sugar-laden foods are in our society?! Certainly this is a BIG obstacle, but did you know that biological sugar addiction is also a real phenomenon? No more feeling guilty about our ‘dwindling’ willpower! Here’s…
Details
5 Things Everyone Should Know About Sugar
I’m sure it’s no secret to anyone reading this that sugar consumption has risen in the last few decades, and that many experts have connected this trend to major public health issues and health costs in the US and other countries. But here’s the conundrum: in the face of such overwhelming data, why does this…
Details
Don’t Throw the Beans Out With the Bathwater!
Many folks are “dissing” beans these days, be them lentil, refried, kidney, soy or black. We’re so concerned about the capacity of some of the bean compounds (called anti-nutrients), such as lectins, saponins, protease inhibitors and phytates to induce damage that we forget about the copious bean benefits, including the cheap cost, protein, fiber and…
Details
Is Your Cholesterol Too Low?
“Your cholesterol number is high…” a phrase still scary enough to many of us. Cholesterol is still so controversial these days. Yet, for the first time, the scientific advisory panel for the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggests that we should no longer advise the public to be concerned about their cholesterol intake from food.…
Details
3 Essential Nutrients Gut Bugs Create for Us
Those gut microbes are one busy “organ!” Aside from honing our immune system, balancing our metabolism, protecting our gut lining, neutralizing pathogens, and helping our brain function, did you know that these little critters are also making nutrients for us to use… One such nutrient is folate, which is a critical nutrient for methylation pathways…
Details
Are You a Hospitable Host to Your Microbial Partners?
Are you enriching their lives with good, healthy food choices and lifestyle habits or are you angering your trillions of guests, pushing them towards causing disease? I wrote my thesis in medical school on stealth infections, where I concluded that health had much to do with how well we tended our microbial garden… I was…
Details
Potassium-The REAL Special K+
Did you know that LESS THAN 8% of the US population actually achieve adequate potassium intake? So outrageous. And on average, ALL ADULTS ingest a full 200% of our daily sodium requirement. We SHOULD be ingesting way more potassium than sodium, about three times as much. And we don’t. Not even close. We are the…
Details
Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth & Gluten Sensitivity Often Found in Interstitial Cystitis Patients
Commentary from Jessica Drummond (podcast on Chronic Pelvic Pain): When working with interstitial cystitis (IC) clients, this study shifted my thinking from simply applying “the IC diet” as a strategy for reducing IC symptoms to looking for the root cause of the IC as a potential manifestation of another more systemic issue such as SIBO,…
Details
How to Test for Lead at Home
Dr. Kara Fitzgerald discusses a quick, cheap method for detecting lead on the surface area of household items. Check it out!
Details
Comparing the Oral and Colon Microbiomes-Abstract
Commentary From Cass Nelson-Dooley (Podcast on Oral Microbiome): This a great study about the Human Microbiome Project comparing microbes through ALL points of the GI tract. It revealed some interesting things about normal, healthy subjects. For instance, they have oral bacterial pathogens, but no disease! This finding disputes the one bug-one disease paradigm (Koch’s Postulates). …
Details
Safe Soil for Your Home-Grown Veggies
When we moved from our tiny New York City apartment out to the ‘burbs’ some nine years ago now, I rubbed my hands with glee. No longer was I constrained for veggie-growing locations (growing food was something I’d longed to do more of). Space was abundant! I began planning my first ‘real’ garden, eyeing up…
Details
The Variable Calcium Content in Leafy Greens
Just today I was reviewing a nutrient intake evaluation with a patient of our clinic, let’s call her Trish, who is on (among other things) a dairy-free Food Plan. Since we are sometimes implementing relatively complex elimination diets in our patient population with severe allergic disease, nutritional balance requires careful attention. We regularly request diet…
Details