Atopic disease is a group of allergic disorders such as asthma, eczema and allergic rhinitis/hay fever.  These disorders are common, affecting 10% of adults and 20% of children.  It has been long thought that gut disorders play a role in atopic disorders.  Research has demonstrated that “leakiness” of the gut barrier is an important trigger […]

The US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released the new dietary guidelines for 2025-2030.  Like so many government guidelines, there seems to be some good updates and some not so good.  This mixed bag of good/bad relates to the relationship between the food industry with one […]

Osteoporosis is a complex disease of aging.  Complex means it isn’t caused by “A” but rather it is by “A”, “B”, “C” and “D”.  To further complicate this, one patient may have the disease caused by 20% A, 70% C and 10% D while in another patient, it is caused by 60% A, 30% B […]

There has been a wealth of discussion within the health care community about the adverse effects of ultra-processed foods (UPFs).  Recent studies have shown the link between higher consumption of UPFs to some of the most prevalent health problems such as obesity and diabetes.   It seems that these foods are “engineered” to allow their […]

LDL cholesterol tends to be looked at as “the problem” regarding vascular disease risk.  In reality, it is only part of the risk.  What is more important than simply LDL levels is the size of the particles.  Two persons with the “same” LDL level can have very different vascular disease risks. The LDL listed on […]

Modern humans have always had the belief, conscious or subconscious, that they could lead a less-than-optimal lifestyle and yet health care could prevent the ill effects.  This is particularly true thinking about medical care.  Why eat an optimal diet when the unhealthy food is so good?  Exercise is more effort than I want to put […]

Again, It Depends on Who It Hangs Out With In a previous blog I had discussed some of the research of coffee consumption and a reduced risk of diabetes.  It seems there are several phenols or phytonutrients in brewed coffee that offer diabetes preventative benefit.  I also made the point that this might be negated […]

We previously discussed how DAMPs or damaged associated and PAMPs or pathogen associated molecular patterns can chronically activate inflammation.  The damage associated referring to tissue components released from degenerative tissue such as joints.  The pathogen associated referring to chronic infections such as in the gut. In this 3rd blog on what triggers chronic inflammation we […]

What is Triggering It? In the introduction to this series of blogs on inflammation I mentioned that understanding and reducing its impact comes down to 2 points: In response to what is triggering it, these factors can be helpful in response to infection and in resolving injury, or harmful in response to chronic lifestyle triggers […]

Food provides us with energy to run and materials needed to maintain the ongoing process of repair and regeneration.  How well those processes occur is highly related to food quality.  Quite simply, we have undergone a dramatic change in our food quality over the past 100 years and that change is a major factor in […]