by Sara Gottfried, MD and Noelle Patno, PhD  Exercise. We all know we need it to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, improve mood, maintain a healthy weight, and support neurogenesis, among many other health benefits. We all know to counsel our patients about it. However, what many practitioners don’t realize is that exercise triggers a stress response in the body, impacting the gastrointestinal system as well as the overall body’s physiology, and may result in disruption of the delicate…

by Bianca Garilli, ND, USMC Veteran The estimated cost of diabetes in the US was $327 billion in 2017, which reflects both direct medical costs ($237 billion) and indirect costs ($90 billion).1 After adjusting for inflation, this amounted to a 26% increase in diabetes costs from 2012 to 2017 and accounted for 1 in 4 healthcare dollars spent in the US.1 In 2015 it was estimated that 30.3 million people of all ages, roughly 9.4% of the US population, had…

Bianca Garilli, ND A fiery debate is occurring in homes, schools, research institutes, corporate board rooms, and healthcare organizations across the globe: Are e-cigarettes (e-cigs) harmful? Are e-cigs a healthier alternative than conventional cigarettes? Are e-cigs effective smoking cessation tools? Do e-cigs act as a gateway to more harmful smoking and lifestyle behaviors? In order to answer these questions and more, it’s important to understand the history of e-cigs and how we’ve arrived to this point. History of e-cigs Prototypes…

by Sara Gottfried, MD My granny blinked behind her glasses as she drove us to her home after school, trying to conceal her panic. It was 1975. I was 7 years old, and she was 50. Granny wasn’t sure where to turn her Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme next. The distance between the school bus stop and her home was only 5 miles, but we were lost. When my grandmother’s memory and then her personality drained out of her due to Alzheimer’s…

by Sara Gottfried, MD Behind closed doors, women bear all. Overwhelming fear, feelings of worry, irritability, and tension may plague them, yet the conversation around their anxiety has remained mostly unchanged for the past thirty years in mainstream medicine. Although anxiety is our nation’s most common mental disorder, there are lingering feelings of shame surrounding the condition. Women, who often feel pressured to live up to unrealistic expectations, may suffer silently and refrain from seeking the help they deserve. Anxiety…

by Bianca Garilli, ND Magnesium is the 4th most abundant mineral in the human body following calcium, sodium, and potassium. Intracellularly, magnesium is the 2nd most abundant cation behind only potassium.1 The number of essential roles magnesium plays in the body is extraordinary, with over 300 enzymes requiring magnesium as a co-factor for proper functioning.1 This essential element is involved in numerous critical physiological processes such as energy production (ATP metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, and glycolysis), protein synthesis, muscle contraction, nerve…

by Sara Gottfried, MD and Annalouise O’Connor, PhD, RD Many women notice after age 45 that fat seems to accumulate readily at the waist. There are even terms for it, like menopause belly, muffin top, or “menopot.” What does the science tell us about menopausal belly fat and how to get rid of it? What are the hormonal drivers and are they amenable to change with personalized lifestyle medicine? Certainly belly fat, specifically subcutaneous and visceral abdominal fat, increases during…

by Sara Gottfried, MD and Christopher Moulton, PhD We’ve been told that cognitive function in healthy individuals naturally declines with age. Or does it? Recent case series have brought this central tenet of the aging brain into question and suggest the hypothesis that cognitive decline may be more mutable than once believed. Dale Bredesen, MD, of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and collaborators have advanced a systems-based approach to address the factors that put the brain at…

by Whitney Crouch, RDN, CLT According to the CDC, of the 154 million prescriptions written for antibiotics each year, at least 30% are unnecessary, and the remaining 70% need to be prescribed more specifically for the infection type, including drug selection, dose, and duration.1 The goal of the CDC is to reduce the number of unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions by 50% by the year 2020.1 The discovery of antibiotics has, no doubt, saved millions of lives, but there are two sides…

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…