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Think Before you drink
With the pandemic appearing to be somewhat under control and the warm summer months quickly approaching, most of us are ready to move on from the necessary safety restrictions. It's likely going to be tempting for folks to go overboard with their alcohol intake. All indications show that there will be more celebratory relief with increased outdoor activities and traveling. Excessive use of alcohol... -
Alcohol, Hormones, and Metabolic Health
Alcohol is probably the single most common variable contributing to difficulty losing weight and hormone imbalance. So many of my patients live a clean lifestyle with organic eating, low sugar intake, healthy amounts of exercise, and meditation BUT may also drink 2-3 drinks 3-5x/week. They do not feel as good as they want and many struggle with hormonal imbalances and difficulty losing weight.... -
Genetics vs Epigenetics
It’s Not All the Luck of the Draw Sometimes it’s easy to assume that whether you get a disease is all the luck of your genes. And sometimes that might be true. But there is another player in game of luck and it is called epigenetics. Epigenetics is how your lifestyle – your behaviors and surroundings, regulate which genes get expressed and to what... -
Total Cholesterol Levels Misses the Mark for Assessing Heart Disease
Heart disease is the number one killer in the world. However, our assessment of heart disease risks is based upon a standard cholesterol panel which really only tells a very small part of the story. There are so many misconceptions about cholesterol and heart disease and how to determine if you are at risk for heart attacks and strokes. In the 1980s, it was... -
Rainbow Inspiration - Why the rainbow diet is so healthy.
The more colors we have in our lives, the more balanced we will feel. I am sure you have heard about the “rainbow diet”. This is a great way to add lots of colors and different nutrients to your bodies every day. We can use colors to activate the 7 main chakras as we allow our body systems to move, get energized and balance... -
Top 5 Things You Can Do to Improve Your Health This Year
The BEST way to improve your health this year is to set Realistic and Sustainable goals. Setting lofty goals that you can only adhere to for a few weeks is not going to help your overall health. So, don’t try to add in 2 hours of exercise a day, and don’t try to say you will live on steamed veggies alone. Choose a Realistic... -
“Thinking in Abundance” – Woo Woo or Truth?
If you have dabbled at all in self-help or new age literature, you have likely come across the idea of an “abundant mindset”. If you are quick to toss self-help and new age concepts into the woo-woo trash, let me ask you to pause and take a closer look at the wisdom embedded within the abundant mindset. An Internal Battle Between Abundance (Hope) and... -
Green Powders: Why use them?
by Dr. Edison de Mello We all know that that the more greens we eat, the less likely we are to develop chronic diseases, such as cancer and heart disease. However, sadly most Americans do not eat nearly enough nutrient-packed dark-green vegetables – and thus cannot take advantage of their rich health benefits, such as decreasing inflammation, enhancing detoxification, and maintaining an optimal acid-base... -
Why do we experience pain?
Pain is a protective system. You experience pain when your brain concludes that your body or your tissues are in danger and something needs to change. This needed change could be your movement patterns, your activity level, even (and maybe most importantly) your thought patterns or attitudes. Your pain is such a powerful protective mechanism that it is always steering you in the direction... -
Back to School Recipes - Bean Salad!
By Bren Boston, MD Back to school time means back to packing lunches. The struggle is real to get temperature stable protein into our kids. One way to do this is to pack a container of bean salad, either as a side dish or a main course. Beans are an excellent source of plant protein, iron, fiber, and antioxidants. They are inexpensive, filling, and... -
The Magic of Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting can promote diversity of gut bacteria, which can lead to positive brain/mood changes and better sugar balancing. But what exactly is intermittent fasting and how does it work to improve gut health? Yes, it is true. Similarly, to many “new ideas” in modern day, intermittent fasting is not new. What is new today being why people chose to do it. In fact, humans have intermittently fasted throughout... -
Sugar Baby – My Journey with Gestational Diabetes
By Bren Boston, MD I was 32 years old and in my first job after my Pain Fellowship. I was pregnant for the first time and didn’t have any pregnant friends to learn the ropes from – so it was all learning from books for me. I remembered that some people develop a type of high blood sugar during their pregnancy called Gestational...