by Melissa Blake, BSc, ND The use of probiotics has grown substantially over the last several years. Propelled by development in sequencing methods and analytical techniques, there has been a significant increase in knowledge and understanding about the importance of a healthy microbiome.1 The currently accepted definition of a probiotic states they are “live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host”.2 Is this relatively broad definition sufficient for clinicians to guide treatment? Can…

by Bianca Garilli, ND, USMC Veteran Military ranks are full of healthy men and women participating in regular physical fitness routines comprised of cardiovascular fitness, strength training, and flexibility exercises all designed to keep the warfighter in tip top condition, ready to deploy and engage at a moment’s notice. In fact, due to the sharp focus on exercise and weight standards of the US Armed Forces, active duty troops are much healthier than their civilian counterparts. For example, rates of…

In this presentation made at The New York Academy of Sciences, Frank Hu, MD, PhD, Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School, provides an edifying overview of the relationship between nutrition and metabolic diseases. Dr. Hu delves deep into systems epidemiology, which integrates a wide range of information from genetic predisposition, epigenetics, genetic expression and other factors into population-based epidemiological studies. According to Dr. Hu, systems epidemiology exists at the intersection of human observational…

by Bianca Garilli, ND Globally, 39% of adults aged ≥18 years were classified as overweight and 13% obese in 2016, totaling a jaw-dropping 1.9 billion adults overall.1 With obesity rates soaring, tripling worldwide since 1975, most of the Earth’s population now lives in countries where overweight and obesity cause more morbidity and mortality than being underweight.1 Keeping pace with these gains in adiposity is the behemoth weight loss and weight management market, which consists of fitness centers, slimming centers, consulting…

by Bianca Garilli, ND Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most common form of heart disease in the US, resulting in over 370,000 deaths annually.1 Because of its frequent and often fatal nature, it is important to understand the risk factors associated with heart disease and ways to mitigate that risk. A partial list of common CHD risk factors include: elevated blood pressure and cholesterol levels, diabetes and prediabetes, smoking, overweight or obesity, sedentary lifestyle, family history of early heart…

by Ashley Jordan Ferira, PhD, RDN Color your plate, so the slogan goes. A 2018 study took this advice literally, incorporating pictures of fruits and vegetables (F&V) into school lunch plates with the goal of improving F&V consumption in preschoolers.1 F&Vs are a low-calorie, nutrient-dense (macro-, micro-, and phytonutrients) food group, but the US is getting a “failing grade” when it comes to F&V intake because typical Western diets are lacking in plant-based nutrition. Health behaviors, including dietary consumption patterns,…

by Bianca Garilli, ND Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the most common liver disorder in Western industrialized countries, can be categorized into two major groups – non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL), which is not associated with significant inflammation, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which is associated with hepatic inflammation.1 Both of these conditions involve hepatic steatosis. The US prevalence of NAFLD is 10-46%.1,2 Worldwide, the prevalence is estimated to be between 6-35%, with some researchers noting up to 50% incidence in the…

by Bianca Garilli, ND Obesity, a preventable condition, has tripled worldwide since 1975, with 340 million children and adolescents between 5-19 years of age with overweight or obesity in 2016 according to the World Health Organization (WHO).1 In children and adolescents, BMI-for-age growth charts are used to determine weight status; >85th and <95th percentile is considered overweight, while ≥95th percentile is obese.2 In the US, overweight and obesity disproportionally affect children of low-income households, whereas the risk of overweight and…

There is a need to identify methods to complement and enhance compliance for the ketogenic diet in order to induce and sustain ketosis. Exogenous ketone supplementation, particularly with beta-hydroxybutyrate (βHB) salts, is one such method that has grown in commercial popularity, but clinical studies that test the efficacy and safety of exogenous ketones are lacking. A pilot study1 published in the Journal of Nutritional Health & Food Engineering assessed the circulating βHB blood (capillary) concentration in response to acute, oral βHB…