by Bianca Garilli, ND The 2018 National Physician Burnout & Depression Report published by Medscape surveyed more than 15,000 physicians from 29 specialties on a wide array of topics, one of which was physician burnout.1 The topic of physician burnout has become increasingly important in medicine due to its impact on both the provider’s health and wellbeing, as well as its potential negative impact on patients’ safety and quality of care.1 Physician burnout can be described as a “work-related syndrome…

by Bianca Garilli, ND I have a patient who doesn’t like vegetables. In fact, this person is also not a fan of water (sans flavoring), exercise, nor high fiber foods such as legumes. This scenario is, in many ways, a perfect setup for a number of lifestyle-related chronic diseases, including hypertension. This patient has been on a cocktail of medications for many years but expressed to me that they’d like reduce the list. So, it was with great excitement that…

by Whitney Crouch, RDN, CLT The overweight and obesity epidemic in America Worldwide, obesity rates have tripled since 1975. In 2016, more than 1.9 billion adults 18 years and older were overweight. Of these, over 650 million were obese.1 The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is a cross-sectional survey that represents the civilian, noninstitutionalized population.2 NHANES studies are crucial for looking at many aspects of community health in the US, like the worsening epidemic of overweight and obesity.…

by Annalouise O’Connor, PhD, RD Dyslipidemia is defined as an abnormal level of lipids in the blood and is often described most simplistically as greater levels of total or low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the “bad” cholesterol or particle number, or lower levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the “good” cholesterol. Dyslipidemia is linked with cardiovascular risk and is highly prevalent: The minority of adults (46.6%) in the US have on-target total cholesterol levels (<200mg/dL).1 With cardiovascular disease (CVD) responsible for one in every…

by Milene Brownlow, PhD This 3-part blog series explores the history (Part 1), mechanisms and evidence (Part 2) underlying the neuroprotective effects of the ketogenic diet. In the final part 3, let’s investigate the current scientific evidence in support of the ketogenic diet (KD) as a therapeutic approach for specific neurological disorders. Preclinical study evidence In rodents, diet-induced ketosis has been shown to reverse motor deficits in a model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS),1 reduce lesion volume after traumatic brain…

by Milene Brownlow, PhD In addition to their original use as an anticonvulsant treatment (explored in Part 1 of this blog series), ketogenic diets (KDs) are increasingly viewed as a promising metabolic therapy for other neurological conditions. But first, an important question: Are KDs neuroprotective because of the reduction in glucose and insulin levels or due to the presence of ketones? Answer: Both. On the one hand, chronic consumption of refined sugar and starches results in systemic inflammation in the…

by Bianca Garilli, ND Introduction You’re sitting in a relaxing chair at the bookstore with no acute stress or problems, when out of the blue your heart begins to race, flutter, and skip beats. This is not the first time this has happened and you wonder if you might be experiencing a medical emergency. Should you be concerned and call 911, or simply ignore the strange fluttering feelings and continue reading? The answer, as is often the case in medicine:…

by Lewis Chang, PhD A Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes predominantly plant-based foods, less red meat, and using olive oil as the main source of fat, is known for its health-promoting properties.1 However, the 21 countries that border the Mediterranean Sea are ethnically and culturally diverse; therefore, a Mediterranean diet is not one eating pattern but can vary in its execution from country to country. For example, Spaniards on average consume more red meat than Greeks.2 In terms of red meat,…

by Bianca Garilli, ND  History of breast milk: then and now The “breast is best” and “liquid gold” taglines made their return to conventional pediatric conversations in recent years, diverging from a previous school of thought that led Western mothers to believe their naturally produced, free breast milk was inferior to factory made synthetic formulas with a price tag. Interestingly enough, this was not the first time natural breastfeeding had gone out of vogue. A brief history of infant feeding…

Although the ketogenic diet has been used clinically since the early 20th century, with specific therapeutic use for seizure mitigation in children with intractable epilepsy, the “keto diet” is now discussed more broadly, having even entered colloquial use. With the ketogenic diet’s recent rise in mainstream popularity and increased clinical exposure, we compiled a Q&A with Mark Kaye, DC to answer specific questions from healthcare practitioners. Does a ketogenic lifestyle work for hypothyroid patients? Contributing factors to low thyroid function…