Hello again: Here is some great news on what you can do to save your memory, brain, and overall health by simply eating foods that are high in flavenols. Say what? “Flavonols are a type of flavonoid, a group of phytochemicals found in plant pigments. Earlier research has shown that high flavonol intake was tied to lower risk of Alzheimer's dementia.  Higher dietary intake of total flavonols and individual flavonol constituents was linked with slower cognitive and memory decline in older adults, a longitudinal study showed. Slower declines in episodic, semantic, and working memory also were tied to overall flavonol intake. Associations were independent of cardiovascular conditions and lifestyle factors,  The anti-inflammatory ... Read more

Hello once again everyone: As consumers, we need to be aware that just because it is allowed to be sold as some type of edible ‘food like object’, does not necessarily mean that it is actually good for us. When it comes to highly processed foods (HPF’s), it is exactly the opposite: highly processed foods are destroying the health of any of us that consume them. Most of us are aware that these HPF’s are manufactured to be addictive, and this fact is becoming recognized at the clinical level. They state: "Food addiction explains so much of what we see in clinical practice, where intelligent people understand what we tell them about the physiology associated with a low-carb diet, and they follow it for a while, but then they relapse," said Jen Unwin, PhD explaining the difficulties faced by around 20% of her patients who are considered to have food addiction. As an ... Read more

Hello everyone: Here is some good news for all of us because sometimes we may need an antibiotic, yet we can be reluctant to take them because we are aware that it can seriously damage the gut microbiome and thus have deleterious effects on our total health as well. You probably have heard of the Gut-Brain Axis, or the Gut-Liver Axis, or the Gut-Skin Axis and how the health of the gut microbiome and the gut itself is related to blood sugar, mental health, brain function, inflammation, fatigue, autoimmune, skin and many problems. Put simply, gut issues are major drivers of chronic illness and inflammation and can negatively (or positively) affect our health in many ways. The good news from MedicalNewsToday of 11.18.22 is as follows:

• Antibiotic treatment for bacterial infections can reduce the abundance and diversity of gut bacteria, leading to potentially severe ... Read more

Hello to everyone:  In response to the above title, most people will just say…well duh, of course ultra-processed foods are unhealthy! So, if this is so widely known we all must wonder why over 57% of all calories consumed in the U.S. are from ultra-processed foods!! Not only that, the consumption of whole foods decreased over 5%...this is a horrible trend as these ultra-processed foods are drivers of disease and inflammation!! “The overall composition of the average U.S. diet has shifted towards a more processed diet. This is concerning, as eating more ultra-processed foods is associated with poor diet quality and higher risk of several chronic diseases,” said Filippa Juul, an assistant professor and postdoctoral fellow at NYU School of Public Health and the study’s lead author. “The high and increasing consumption of ultra-processed foods in the ... Read more

Hello again everyone: The bad news is that less than 7% of our nation has good cardiometabolic health. In this article, they used the term ‘devastating’ to describe how serious this is. The good news is that you can fix this! Here is what the research revealed: “Researchers evaluated Americans across five components of health: levels of blood pressure, blood sugar, blood cholesterol, adiposity (overweight and obesity), and presence or absence of cardiovascular disease (heart attack, stroke, etc.). They found that only 6.8 percent of U.S. adults had optimal levels of all five components as of 2017-2018.” “These numbers are striking. It’s deeply problematic that in the United States, one of the wealthiest nations in the world, fewer than 1 in 15 adults have optimal cardiometabolic health,” said Read more

Hey everyone: A great way to kick off the New Year is by committing to a mostly organic whole-foods plan. If you are looking for the ‘why’ as to why you should eat to optimize your health and the planet at the same time, then this article that I am sharing is totally worth the read. Here are some excerpts: “Unhealthy diets contributed to more deaths globally in 2017 than any other factor, including smoking2. As the world’s population continues to rise and more people start to eat like Westerners do, the production of meat, dairy and eggs will need to rise by about 44% by 2050, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).           That (increased production of meat, dairy, ... Read more

Hello everyone, and Best Wishes for a Happy and Healthy Holy Day Season!!  As we head into 2023 (time really flies!!), we can end the year with a new habit regarding meal timing. It turns out that we all have internal biological clocks that are called circadian rhythms. It also turns out that these internal clocks make us more efficient (better) at doing different things at different times of the day. These two studies revealed that by taking advantage of our internal clock functions, we can improve our blood sugar, cholesterol, appetite and cravings, weight, blood pressure, brain health and more. The first study reveals that late eating is not healthy: Late eating:

• Increases waketime hunger
• Decreases waketime energy expenditure and 24 hr. core body temperature
• Alters adipose tissue metabolism (not in a good way = increased ... Read more

Hello to everyone: Finally, some good news about coffee. Here you go: “Drinking two to three cups of coffee a day is linked with a longer lifespan and lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared with avoiding coffee, according to research published today in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, a journal of the ESC.1 The findings applied to ground, instant and decaffeinated varieties.” “In this large, observational study, ground, instant and decaffeinated coffee were associated with equivalent reductions in the incidence of cardiovascular disease and death from cardiovascular disease or any cause,” said study author Professor Peter Kistler of the Baker Heart and Diabetes Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia. “The results suggest that mild to moderate intake of ground, instant and decaffeinated coffee should be considered part of a healthy ... Read more

Hello everyone: The title says it all, but here it is from the authors of the 2020 paper: High Intake of Sugar and the Balance between Pro- and Anti- Inflammatory Gut Bacteria Abstract The so-called Western diet is rich in saturated fat and sugars and poor in plant-derived fibers, and it is associated with an increased risk of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, as well as chronic (low grade) inflammation. The detrimental effects of poor diet are in part mediated by gut microbiota, whose composition, functionality, and metabolic end products respond to dietary changes. Recent studies have shown that high intake of sugars increase the relative abundance of Proteobacteria in the gut, while simultaneously decreasing the abundance of Bacteroidetes, which can mitigate the effects of endotoxin, as well as reinforce gut barrier function. Thus, a high sugar intake ... Read more

Hello again everyone: If you have been following our blog, you know that inflammation causes, perpetuates, and aggravates all chronic health conditions, and this absolutely includes aging. So, this is obviously not good, and you also know that inflammation usually has multiple drivers which that means that we need multiple lifestyle approaches to effectively optimize our health and feel and function our best. Here is some very good and interesting news you can use: Abstract: “There is considerable evidence for the effectiveness of mind–body interventions (MBIs) in improving mental and physical health, but the molecular mechanisms of these benefits remain poorly understood. One hypothesis is that MBIs reverse expression of genes involved in inflammatory reactions that are induced by stress. Conclusion: The results of 18 studies that used ... Read more

Hello to all: A timely new study has revealed that micronutrient deficiencies (vitamins & minerals essential to our body functions and health) are surprisingly common and are causing significant illness around the world, plus they are just as bad in the U.S. as in much poorer countries. This is extremely important considering previous work shows that even chronic insufficiencies can cause disease, so it is even worse with deficiencies. An insufficiency is when you have just enough of the nutrient to prevent deficiency signs and illness, but not enough to function optimally…in other words if you are chronically insufficient it will eventually create a disease or illness. However, if you are deficient, you are unwell on some level and you are brewing illness and trouble. This kind of trouble often becomes very expensive in terms of time, money, and suffering. Here is the news plus ... Read more

11.21.2022   Hello once again everyone: Here is some great news for brain health. Keeping your Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acid (EFA’s) intake optimal results in better brain function and protects us again age-related decline (Alzheimer’s and other forms of cognitive decline). This study is unique because it looks at this issue in middle aged people rather than older populations that are more frequently studied in relation to brain function and health. “Omega-3 fatty acid concentrations in red blood cells were linked with brain structure and cognitive function in midlife, an exploratory cross-sectional study showed. In about 2,200 people with an average age of 46, a higher omega-3 index was associated with a larger hippocampal volume (the memory center of the brain) and better abstract reasoning, according to Claudia Satizabal, PhD, of the University of Texas ... Read more

Hello to all: In a study from May of this year, we learn that the higher the dietary inflammatory index of the food we consume, the more our brain deteriorates. “Discussion Our findings showed associations between higher DII (Dietary Inflammatory Index) scores and global brain MRI measures. As we are one of the first groups to report on the associations between higher DII scores and brain volume, replication is needed to confirm our findings.” Bottom Line: Poor food choices will certainly destroy our brain, plus most other aspects of health. You might say, well, DUH, and that would be appropriate. However, currently the average citizen is consuming a bit over 50% of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods. Ugh. Want to know more? Read more

Hello to everyone: Articles like this one are very helpful to reduce confusion about what to eat and when. Here are the main findings: “Recently, researchers reviewed hundreds of nutrition studies from cellular to epidemiological perspectives to identify a 'common denominator nutrition pattern' for healthy longevity. In the end, the researchers found that the ‘longevity diet’ includes:

• A legume and whole grain-rich pescatarian or vegetarian diet
• 30% of Read more

10.31.2022                  Hello everyone: We all have stress and many of us are looking for ways to lower stress and improve our health. It looks like walking does it again (please recall my last newsletter/blog) as now we know that it helps take us out of stress mode. Here is a little information to help clarify the quote from the article: The amygdala is primarily involved in the processing of emotions and memories associated with fear, in other words, the stress response also known as fight, flight or freeze. Here is the definition of salutogenic: a 'salutogenic' approach is one that focuses on factors that support health and wellbeing, beyond a more traditional, 'pathogenic' focus on risk and problems. This is the type of healthcare that we offer in our practice. Now as you read the quote below it becomes clear that going outside is an essential ... Read more

10.03.2022  Hello again everyone: Recently there has been a great deal of news in the medical press about pesticides and endocrine disrupting plastics and other chemicals. Over the next few weeks, I will be sending you a lot of links about this for several reasons:

• It is real but invisible, tasteless, odorless, and damages us slowly but surely
• Exposures are usually chronic and cumulative and build up in our tissues
• These chemicals distort cellular, hormonal, immune and neurologic function
• What you don’t know can hurt you, so take steps to reduce your exposure
• You may think that you are not exposed to Round Up, but over 80% of us have detectable amounts in our urine. This info does apply to you!

09.26.22   Hello again everyone: Here is a new article that reveals how artificial sweeteners can damage our health. It appears that the artificial sweeteners alter our gut microbiome that then has a negative influence on blood sugar control which induces insulin resistance. This is not a good or health building result as insulin resistance causes or leads to: type 2 diabetes; weight gain; inflammation; cardiovascular disease; high blood pressure; kidney damage; nerve damage; dementia; brain fog and more. Here is what one study said: Results: The HOMAIR values for Group A and B ranged from 0.9–24.33 and 0.12–10.83 with mean values 7.39 and 2.6, respectively, showing that the ones who used AS had a higher insulin resistance. The study also showed that the duration of use of artificial sweeteners had a direct impact on insulin resistance. Read more

Hello all: Here is some newer research showing a link between brain health and food. A lot of might say…well…duh! However, the consumption of ultra-processed foods continues without slowing down. Way too many of us eat way too much ‘food like substances’ that substantially harm our brains and overall health. “Background: There has been a growing body of evidence associating consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) with adverse health outcomes including depression, cardiovascular disease, all-cause mortality. However, whether UPF are associated with dementia is unknown. The authors investigated the associations between UPF and dementia incidence in UK biobank. Conclusions: In this prospective cohort study, higher consumption of UPF was associated with higher risk of dementia, while substituting unprocessed or minimally processed foods for UPF was ... Read more

Hello again:  This paper goes over how a Western Style Diet can induce CRC (Colo-Rectal-Cancer) by altering the gut microbiome and creating systemic and local intestinal inflammation. The key things to note here are:

• Diet can induce unfavorable changes in our microbiome
• This leads to systemic inflammation
• Chronic inflammation can cause, aggravate, or perpetuate diseases of all types