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!
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…