I am particularly interested in nutrient responsive genes, especially for altering the risk for and course of conditions such as breast cancer. Nutrient responsive genes, as their name implies, are those whose expression responds to their environment – specifically the nutrients we ingest. This effect is mediated via epigenetic alterations induced by those nutrients. This…
Midlife is an extremely active time epigenetically. Pro-inflammatory genes tend to become hypomethylated and get ramped up, tumor-suppressor genes can become progressively more silenced, genes that code for antioxidant and detoxification enzymes such as glutathione transferase (which also happens to be an important tumor-suppressor gene!) also get dialed down, and genes that promote cancer (known…
Weight gain is one of the most frequently seen complaints during perimenopause and menopause. In this blog we will explore why that is and how the female body changes during this magical and yet confusing life stage. Menopause and perimenopause typically begin for women around the age of 45 – 55 years. We start to notice changes in our bodies prior to the loss of our cycle including hot flashes or night sweats, change in frequency and how heavy our periods can be, and changes in mood. Perhaps the most unsettling for females is the change in weight and body mass distribution: clothes fit differently, your body feels different, your capacity at the gym and with physical activity feels futile! And this usually happens with little change to your current nutrition or activity routine.
In my first year of naturopathic medical school, stuck right in the middle of the standard basic science classes, was a class on hydrotherapy- evidence of how fundamental the use of hot and cold water as a healing modality was viewed in our training. They introduced it to us early, and it was a core…
Last month, I was awarded the Rosalind Franklin Society Special Award in Science for my research on using a diet and lifestyle program to favorably change DNA methylation and reverse biological aging. I’m humbled and honored to receive this award, which is given to the top papers of the year written by women or underrepresented…
Mushrooms are a powerful, and often underutilized, tool for health and longevity. They provide important nutrients, including those used in methylation cycles- folate, choline, and zinc for example. Their bioactive compounds also act as DNA methylation adaptogens, with the ability to influence gene expression and even potentially biological age. It’s why mushrooms feature as one…
Eggs are one of those controversial foods that we were warned against for almost half a century. However, recent years have seen both the American Heart Association and Dietary Guidelines for Americans reverse their restrictions on eggs and dietary cholesterol intake. Rightly so – the evidence didn’t support them, and their redirected emphasis on dietary…
Dr. Fitzgerald’s latest research peer-reviewed publication (published March 2023 in the journal Aging) reports on a case series of women who followed a structured version of her 8-week bioage-targeting protocol. Collectively, the participants reduced their biological age by an average of 4.60 years compared to their baseline. In this month’s blog, we pose some key…
When a team of scientists from EPFL, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, set out to thoroughly study the health benefits of pomegranates, they discovered something truly remarkable – the power of a postbiotic nutrient, Urolithin A (UA) to promote cellular health and longevity. For the past 15 years, Urolithin A has been one of the most well-researched longevity molecules. Over 300 studies, 11 of which are clinical trials, show impressive benefits in UA’s ability to target some of the key biological hallmarks of aging. These same scientists and doctors developed the first and only clinically tested Urolithin A formulation (more on that below!)
The right kind of exercise is an anti-aging elixir that spins the biological clock in reverse: when you look at the lifestyle habits of healthy centenarians, a commonality among all of them is that movement is a foundational part of their life. Alongside nutrition and other lifestyle practices, exercise is a core component of the…
