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…

by Bianca Garilli, ND, IFMCP The Global Breastfeeding Collective (GBC), co-led by UNICEF and WHO, has a mission to rally political, legal, financial, and public support for breastfeeding, which will benefit mothers, children, and society. Seven key priorities have been set forth by the GBC to increase the rate of breastfeeding globally; their most recent data from 2017 evaluated 194 nations and found that, “only 40 percent of children younger than six months are breastfed exclusively (given nothing but breastmilk)…

by Bianca Garilli, ND Although originally (and still) used as a therapeutic approach to reduce seizures in children with intractable epilepsy, nowadays the ketogenic diet is more well-known and broadly used for weight loss and cardiometabolic disease management. A question frequently asked when considering the implementation of a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet is whether there are potential negative health outcomes associated with this approach, such as worsening cholesterol levels. Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not cut and dry and…

by Lewis Chang, PhD Frailty, characterized by exhaustion, reduced physical activity capacity, slow gait speed, unintentional weight loss, and muscle weakness, is a major health concern associated with aging that increases the risk of disability, institutionalization, and death in older adults.1 It is important to identify modifiable risk factors associated with frailty so that prevention or early intervention strategies can be implemented accordingly. According to epidemiological evidence, certain dietary patterns or dietary components can influence the risk of frailty.2 However,…

by Milene Brownlow, PhD Nowadays, blogging about ketogenic diets hardly requires an introductory paragraph. Most of us are bombarded with newsletters, emails, and personal stories of how cutting back on carbs and increasing consumption of healthy fats yield remarkable benefits. The popularity of the diet is largely due to its effects on weight loss and improved metabolism. Yet, long before a trending topic on every social media platform, ketogenic diets were specifically, clinically used for seizure control in the treatment…

by Ashley Jordan Ferira, PhD, RDN Almost 10% of the US population has diabetes, with another 34% in a precarious state of prediabetes.1 These diagnoses are not destiny. Research demonstrates that lifestyle interventions, particularly those incorporating nutrition therapy, produce clinically meaningful improvements in diabetes.2 Integrating this research foundation into the clinical setting is key. A study used an endocrinology private practice waiting room to deliver weekly group-based nutrition education classes for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), examining the effects…

by Bianca Garilli, ND It is well known that gut dysbiosis impacts various aspects of human health, from cardiovascular disease to asthma.1 Bacterial composition in the digestive tract can be influenced by many aspects of daily life: stress levels, environmental exposures, and dietary habits, including alcohol consumption, to name a few.1-2 The literature also suggests that alcohol intake may play a role in the makeup of human oral microbiota through several mechanisms including direct cytotoxic effects on bacteria, changing the…

Obesity and cardiometabolic disease are metabolic perturbations associated with inflammation chronicity. The Western diet is typified by a surplus of calories, low nutritional quality, and high pro-inflammatory potential, thereby fueling excess adiposity, which further leads to inflammation. To break this obesity-inflammation cycle, adopting a healthful dietary pattern and incorporating regular physical activity is critical. Furthermore, identifying foods and nutritional bioactives that can reduce or counteract inflammation is important for the development of targeted nutrition therapies. This blog focuses on a…

by Lewis Chang, PhD Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern where one alternates periods of eating and fasting. Overall, intermittent fasting has demonstrated efficacy in weight management and improvements in metabolism and body composition.1,2 However, it is unclear whether the observed metabolic benefits are the result of weight loss or due to other mechanisms. Also, there are a variety of fasting regimens which may have different physiological effects. Researchers from The University of Alabama at Birmingham (Birmingham, AL) Department of…

by Whitney Crouch, RDN, CLT What is Golden Milk? Popularized across social media, golden milk is a cross-cultural drink originating in Asian countries and consumed for its anti-inflammatory properties and pungent flavor. Also known as “golden milk latte” or “turmeric tea”, golden milk is made with freshly grated or ground turmeric, a pinch of freshly ground pepper, honey or lemon to taste, and hot water, milk, or dairy alternative.1-2 The addition of freshly grated or ground ginger adds extra flavor…