by Ashley Jordan Ferira, PhD, RDN Overview Vitamin D research and daily news headlines are ubiquitous. PubMed’s search engine contains over 81,800 articles pertaining to vitamin D.1 Information abounds on vitamin D, but the vetting and translation of that information into pragmatic recommendations is harder to find. Evidence-based takeaways and female-centric recommendations are crucial for healthcare practitioners (HCPs), their female patients and consumers alike. Women are busy, multi-tasking pros, so practical, personalized takeaways are always appreciated. In other words, women…

by Bianca Garilli, ND The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the total number of people living with diabetes in 2014 was 422 million, equal to approximately 8.5% of adults worldwide– a majority of whom were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (T2D). These figures are a staggering increase from the estimated 108 million people, globally, who were diagnosed with diabetes in 1980!1 The United States does not fare any better.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 29.1 million people…

Patients with diabetes often have numerous comorbid conditions such as obesity, heart disease, kidney disease and hypertension to name a few. Hypertension or high blood pressure (BP), in particular, can lead to increased risks for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), heart failure (HF) and attendant microvascular complications. The last time the American Diabetes Association (ADA) provided a position statement on hypertension was more than 15 years ago. Given the increasing rise in the numbers of people afflicted by diabetes, increased BMI…

by Lewis Chang, PhD  An editorial perspective, recently published in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) obesity-themed issue, helps to explain the growing interest in the ketogenic diet for weight and type 2 diabetes (T2D) management [1]. Many people successfully lose weight via diet over the short haul; however, because of physiological adaptations, it becomes much more difficult to maintain that weight loss in the long run. As a result, a majority of people regain their weight—and sometimes more. Interestingly, accumulating evidence suggests…

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently released their latest National Diabetes Statistics Report— and the news is not optimistic. The report indicates that one in 10 (30.3 million) US adults has diabetes, while more than one in three–or 84.1 million–has prediabetes. What is even more disconcerting is that 90% of those with prediabetes are not aware of their condition!  As the CDC report notes, most people with prediabetes do not know that they are at high risk to progress to…

by Bianca Garilli, ND “Treat the gut” and “breast is best” are both common mantras in the Functional Medicine practitioner’s office offering insight into the primary location of foundational imbalance for many chronic illnesses (in the gut) as well as a potential mechanisms to prevent these imbalances in the first place (breastfeeding). Delving into both of these areas more deeply, it has been shown that human breastmilk reduces permeability of the infant’s intestine and its predominant antibody, sIgA, gives immunoprotection…

by Ashley Jordan Ferira, PhD, RDN The importance of vitamin D in diverse organ systems and biochemical processes is ever-growing with novel research findings. From calcium absorption to extraskeletal health processes such as immune function- vitamin D is essential. The role of vitamin D in pain management is a newer area of investigation that has not been fully established. It is estimated that 25.3 million American adults experience pain every day, with nearly 40 million experiencing some form of extreme pain.1 Annual…

by Ashley Jordan Ferira, PhD, RDN Most people have heard of, or know somebody who suffers from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). IBS is not a single condition but rather a group of symptoms associated with the gastrointestinal (GI) tract that includes abdominal pain and changes in bowel movements such as constipation or diarrhea.1 IBS affects 10-15% of US adults, with women being twice as likely as men to develop IBS.1 Costs associated with treating IBS symptoms are estimated to  be $1.7 billion and $10…

A recent article  published in a recent edition of Preventing Chronic Disease: Public Health Research, Practice and Policy proposes a shift from discussing BMI and weight loss with patients in the provider’s office, to focusing on the topics of awareness and education surrounding healthy life habits, physical activity in particular.  Authors Emily Dollar and team encourage an emphasis on cardiorespiratory fitness over body size to minimize the risk of stigma associated with overweight and obesity and increase collaboration between patient and provider.…

A 2009 publication, obesity-induced insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis are alleviated by omega-3 fatty acids: a role for resolvins and protectins can be downloaded here. In this paper, the authors discuss omega-3-polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3-PUFAs), which have well-documented protective effects that are attributed not only to eicosanoid inhibition but also to the formation of novel biologically active lipid mediators (i.e., resolvins and protectins). In this study, we examined their effects on ob/ob mice, an obesity model of insulin resistance and…