Ultra processed food with toxic chemicals

Avoiding Toxic Food Chemicals Just Got a Bit Easier: New Laws & What You Need to Know

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When I was a kid at lunch, while my friends were eating those heavenly-looking ultraprocessed Twinkies and Ringdings and making dough balls with their white bread, I ate home-made yogurt or nutbutter sandwiches on a very dense, whole grain bread; or perhaps noshed on some sardines. Make no mistake, I went through a very rebellious phase involving Oreo cookies when I finally called the food shots in my life. But thankfully, I had gleaned enough from my mom that this phase didn’t last long. Indeed, I developed a deep appreciation for how savvy she was (and still is!) when it comes to keeping food clean, healthy and almost completely free of ultraprocessing and toxic food chemicals. She taught me the importance of avoiding ultra-processed foods and toxic food chemicals, long before it became a public health headline.

What Urinary Hormone Metabolite Testing Tells Us about Estrogen Metabolism and Breast Cancer Risk

What Urinary Hormone Metabolite Testing Tells Us about Estrogen Metabolism and Breast Cancer Risk

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Estrogen is a life-giving hormone with which modern humans have a complicated relationship. Over two decades ago, The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) findings mistakenly reported that combined estrogen and progestin hormone therapy increased the risk of breast cancer, coronary heart disease, stroke, and venous thromboembolism in postmenopausal women. This led to a pervasive vilification of estrogen therapy that has affected generations of women.

woman with insomnia

Insomnia’s Five Subtypes: Here’s How to Address Each One

Functional Medicine for Consumers, Functional Medicine for Professionals1 Comment

Sleepless nights can be more than just an occasional inconvenience—they often come with exhaustion, frustration, and confusion about why nothing seems to help. If you’ve (or your patients have) tried different remedies but still struggle to get quality rest, understanding the specific nature of insomnia is the key to unlocking deeper, restorative sleep.

Biohacking Your UV Defense: How Antioxidants Optimize Your SPF

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Protecting your skin from UV radiation isn’t just about minimizing sunburns—it’s about slowing a significant accelerant of biological aging that triggers oxidative stress, immune suppression, and cellular senescence. While traditional sunscreens are a barrier to limiting UV exposure, they aren’t perfect alone. They can wash or rub off easily, degrade when exposed to heat and sunlight, and don’t address the downstream photodamage that continues long after exposure. That’s where antioxidants come in—they target oxidative stress, support cellular repair, and fortify your skin’s intrinsic UV defenses. Let’s explore the mechanisms of antioxidant-driven photoprotection and how integrating these compounds into your regimen can enhance skin longevity and resilience.

doctor working at a medical practice

How to Start and Grow Your Practice (for Clinicians, not MBAs!)

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Starting and growing an integrative medical practice is a transformative journey that requires careful planning, commitment, and adaptability. Often, integrative and functional medicine providers are great clinicians when it comes to helping their patients, but feel inadequately prepared to run the business side of their practice. Dr. Linda Matteoli, at Origins Incubator, has the solution to this conundrum, walking physicians through the process to increase confidence, maintain authenticity, and achieve outcomes. The strategies they share in this article are valuable for all of us. – DrKF

person tracking HRV with a smart watch

Tracking HRV: Is it Worth It?

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By the end of my book tour in 2022—one of the most amazing but intense experiences of my life—you could scrape me off the floor. (Who knew? I certainly didn’t expect it.) I was wiped out. My Oura data corroborated what I was feeling, and, particularly devastating, my HRV was stuck in the low teens. Thank goodness I’d layered an extremely needed vacation into the book experience, and we headed off to Baja California Sur. It was this vacation—and my almost immediate HRV rebound—that prompted me to trade the high-stress East Coast lifestyle for a more balanced, nurturing environment in Mexico longer term.

MitoQ

Is Mitochondria-Targeting the Best New Strategy for Longevity?

Functional Medicine for Consumers, Functional Medicine for Professionals2 Comments

Mitochondria are crucial for life, and increasingly research is finding that they hold the key to better aging and longevity, as a critical hallmark of aging. While optimising mitochondrial health through exercise, diet, and stress management is essential for maintaining their function, targeted, research-backed mitochondrial solutions are proving effective at unlocking a new level of longevity-focused results.

medical research

Research & News RoundUp – January 2025

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This month: Yes, yes, yes: intensive lifestyle interventions (4 papers); omega-3 fatty acids and exercise all WORK on preventing and/or reversing cognitive impairment, including in those with genetic risk (including APOE4). Do adipocytes house epigenetic memory leading to the inevitable weight regaining phenomenon we have long seen? The longevity potential of phytonutrients (you know I am bullish here!). And what about that wildly popular Nature Aging paper on aging happening in two bursts—am I hanging up the towel when I hit 60? (Short answer: no.)

Glow & Thrive Longevity Mocktail

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  Sip Your Way to Health: The Glow & Thrive Mocktail Recipe for Longevity   The New Year is a time for fresh starts, thoughtful intentions, and celebrations with loved ones. But why not toast to your health while you’re at it? Enter the Glow & Thrive Mocktail, a festive, alcohol-free drink that not only…