Veganism, is it right for me?
It is important to choose the right food when it comes to you and your family’s health. Food nourishes us, but it can also harm us. Health is often a motivating factor for people who adopt a vegan diet. For many, adopting a plant-based diet is the first step on the road to a healthier […]
“Forks Over Knives” A Must Watch to Help You Improve Your Health
Need a little motivational boost to adopting a healthier lifestyle? We know that in general, movies can inspire us. Rocky, Braveheart, Gladiator, Top Gun – just to mention a few of my favorites. Here is a new favorite of mine: Forks Over Knives. “Forks Over Knives” presents a very compelling case for eating a whole-foods, […]
1-in-10 Women Will Be Diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, What You Need to Know
If you are a woman between the ages of 14-35, chances are that you have heard of polycystic ovarian syndrome or know someone diagnosed with PCOS. According to statistics, 1-in-10 women of reproductive age has PCOS. It is the most common endocrine problem among young women and the most common cause of irregular periods in reproductive-aged […]
You Know Exercise is Good for You. So What’s Stopping You?
Most people accept the notion that exercise is good for your health. But not everyone can list all the benefits! Understanding specifically why exercise is good for you may serve as a handy reminder to get up and get moving. The Benefits of Regular Exercise Exercise can help you control your weight Improve your mood* […]
How to Increase Energy
Fight Fatigue! Increase Energy! Many patients come to me complaining of fatigue and they want more energy. And let’s face it, wouldn’t we all like more energy? I would. So how do you get it? Well, first of all, you should make sure there isn’t some major identifiable illness going on such as anemia, kidney […]
GMO’s – Friend or Foe?
By now, you have probably at least heard of GMO foods, but you may not really understand what that is all about or why there is controversy. Or you may not think that GMO’s are a particularly relevant issue for you. But if you eat any processed foods, any kind of corn product, corn fed […]
How Do You Know if You are Buying the Right Supplement?
How Do You Know if You are Buying the Right Supplement? If you’re like most people, you know that choosing the right nutrition supplements can often be overwhelming and confusing. And one of the big questions is not just what supplement to take, but also what company brand to buy. Do I just buy the […]
Practical Advice for Fibromyalgia
Practical advice for fibromyalgia Fibromyalgia is a condition of widespread body pain (present in all four body quaudrants) in association with at least 11 out of 17 specific tender points (5 lbs. of pressure to the area causes significant pain), for which there is no other identifiable diagnosis. It is a rather common condition, although […]
The Importance of Nutrition Supplements
The Importance of Nutrition Supplements I can’t verify that this story is actually true, but I once heard it at a nutrition conference a number of years back. It has been reported that someone got 10 dieticians together and instructed them (or should we say challenged them) to compose a menu of food items that […]
Testosterone Replacement in Women
Testosterone Replacement in Women I recently gave a female patient of mine a prescription for testosterone skin gel, which she didn’t fill and use because her husband wasn’t comfortable with her using testosterone. I’m not sure why, but apparently he read some negative stuff on the internet about it. She was complaining of low libido […]
Create Healthy Habits
You CAN Create Healthy Habits! Humans are creatures of habit. Unfortunately, good habits are hard to form and easy to lose, and bad habits are easy to form and hard to get rid of. Why is that? For the most part, good habits go against entropy, which is the natural movement away from order and […]
Time for a Lifestyle Change?
Lifestyle Change with the Help of a Lifestyle Educator For centuries, patients have gone to a doctor, and either received a treatment right then and there, or got a prescription to take to a pharmacy to get the drug that the doctor ordered. And sometimes, the doctor would make some additional suggestions like “try and […]
SLIT Allergy Drops – What Took U.S. So Long?
For years, the treatment of allergies to pollen, dust, and mold has meant avoidance, drugs like steroid sprays and oral antihistamines, and painful and inconvenient allergy shots. Avoidance techniques might include keeping the windows closed, running the A/C more than usual, keeping the house extra clean, getting rid of the dog or cat or at […]
Thyroid and hair loss
Thyroid and hair loss: A Connection? There is no doubt about it, your hair is very important to you. And when you start to see it falling out like crazy, it can really be cause for alarm. I have had patients actually bring in a baggie of the hair they have lost (I think in […]
Don’t Get S.A.D. This Christmas
S.A.D. during the winter season? Most of you know that SAD stands for something else besides Standard American Diet. You probably guessed it, Seasonal Affective Disorder. SAD is a real thing. It’s a form of depression that occurs during the cold months and is why it’s also called “winter blues” even though there is a […]
Overcoming Holiday Stress
De-stress during the holiday craziness Around the holidays, the hustle and bustle of the season can turn a season of peace and joy into a time of wanting to pull your hair out! But over the years, I have accumulated a list of action steps a person can take to reduce the stress and the […]
Good time to check on those allergies
Well, allergy season is coming to an end. And for some people, your response might be “Thank goodness!”. Pollen and mold counts are low and symptoms have diminished. The Allegra, Claritin, or Zyrtec may not be needed as much. Thoughts and efforts regarding your allergies might be fading into the background now. But wait. Not […]
They’re Catching On: Wholistic, Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine
Well, I just finished a day and a half of attending a mainstream medical conference full of various lectures on issues that family doctors and internists face in their practices, and I have to say that it looks like mainstream medicine is really starting to catch on to wholistic, integrative, and lifestyle medicine! The keynote […]
Working with and talking to your doctor
Working with and talking to your doctor Your time is valuable. So when you go to a doctor, you probably want to get as much out of your visit as possible during the time you have. Also, your doctor wants to be of maximum service to you in the allotted time for your appointment. And […]
Setting Health Goals
Setting Personal Health Goals If you don’t know where you are going, then any route will get you there. Do you want to live to be 100? Do you want to avoid ending up in a nursing home? Do you want to never need long-term prescriptions for anything? Do you want to barefoot water ski […]
Setting Practical Weight Loss Goals
Practical Weight Loss Goals One of my favorite motivational speakers, Zig Ziglar, used to say that if you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time. So in order to better attain something, we need to aim for it, which is another way of saying we should have goals. With no goals whatsoever, our […]
Weight Loss and Exercise
Weight Loss and Exercise: What’s the connection? When I ask patients what they are doing to lose weight, 99% of the time they begin by telling me how much they are exercising. I think that is because the prevailing notion is that if you want to lose weight, you have to exercise a lot. That […]
Losing the Battle of the Bulge
Unlike in World War II, I’d say that today, Americans are losing the “battle of the bulge”. The numbers of people in our country who are overweight or obese continues to increase rapidly. There are several reasons for this. One of them is that we consume too much food that is cheap and easy to […]
FirstLine Therapy
Reversing Metabolic Syndrome with Personalized Lifestyle Medicine One in 3 Americans have metabolic syndrome—a cluster of conditions that can lead to type 2 diabetes and heart disease , which can be preventable or reversible through a clinically proven lifestyle medicine program. If you have 3 of the 5 following markers, you are at risk: 1) elevated waist […]
Healthy Living: Lifestyle Medicine
Healthy Living: The Choice To Change “Shift happens.” In this case, I’m referring to the paradigm shift regarding how people try to become healthy and stay that way through healthy living. This shift will happen because of people’s feelings of frustration about their current healthcare and the economic unsustainability of our current paradigm. The shift […]
Diagnosing Thyroid Illness
Thyroid Illness: What You Need to Know You’re tired all the time, gaining weight, constipated, losing your hair, can’t think straight, and feeling depressed. You wonder if maybe you have a thyroid problem because you have heard that thyroid hormone has something to do with your metabolism and energy. So you go to a doctor, […]
Celiac Disease vs. Gluten Sensitivity/Intolerance – What’s the Difference?
Celiac disease: What is it and what can you do if you have it? Celiac disease is a disorder where your body reacts badly when exposed to a food protein called “gluten”. Gluten actually becomes like a poison to people who have this disease. Symptoms can be multiple and while usually involving the gut (intestinal […]
Allergies to Your Environment
Dealing with allergies to your environment? Sneezing, itchy eyes, runny and itchy nose, congestion, scratchy throat are no fun and can be more than just annoying. These are what we call “allergies”. It’s also sometimes called hay fever, even though it involves neither hay nor a fever. Allergies to your environment can ruin your quality […]
Autoimmune Disease: What is it and why is it increasing?
Autoimmune Disease becoming more common Rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, psoriasis, systemic lupus erythematosis, multiple sclerosis, Type I Diabetes, and celiac disease: What do all these diseases have in common? They all involve the body’s immune system attacking the body itself rather than foreign invaders. The term for this is “autoimmunity”. Autoimmunity and autoimmune disease are […]