-
Vitamin D & the Inflammatory Response
Research has shown that a healthy inflammatory response is an essential part of the body’s healing process. Yet ongoing inflammation can actually contribute to a wide range of common conditions. Genetic research has now identified low vitamin D levels with high levels of inflammation. This means that low vitamin D could become a key biomarker…
-
Breast Health & the Gut Microbiome
A growing body of evidence points to the intestinal microbiome as an important factor in both the initiation and metastasis of breast cancer. Data from a recent animal study published in Cancer Immunology Research supports the link between increased metastasis and gut dysbiosis, and suggests a novel mechanism for this link, specifically an accumulation as…
-
Keto Diet & Mental Health
A paper published recently in Frontiers in Psychiatry highlights the potential effect of ketogenic diets with refractory mental illness. Considering that this very low-carbohydrate nutritional strategy was originally developed a century ago as a dietary therapy for intractable epilepsy, it’s clear that keto has unique salutary effects on the brain and central nervous system. Research…
-
Vitamin D, Omegas, & Autoimmune
Results from a large trial of older adults in the U.S. were recently published in BMJ, detailing the outcome of a 5-year study evaluating the use of supplemental vitamin D and/or omega-3 fatty acids and the development of autoimmune disease. Part of the large-scale vitamin D and omega-3 trial (VITAL), it was randomized, double-blinded and…
-
Pycnogenol & Restless Legs Syndrome
Results of a small clinical trial suggest that pycnogenol may provide some benefit for people suffering from Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), a difficult-to-manage condition associated with increased cardiovascular risk. In a non-blinded and non-randomized trial, otherwise healthy adults with RLS (mean age 44) were given either 150mg pycnogenol per day (n=21) along with standard therapy…
-
Diet & Breast Cancer
Recently published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health were the results of the largest to-date meta-analysis of 8 cohort studies examining the relationship between dietary change and mortality following a diagnosis of invasive breast cancer. Previously published data suggest that most women do not substantially change eating patterns following a diagnosis;…
-
Lipid Energy Model
A large body of evidence supports the use of very low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets for weight loss, reversing metabolic syndrome, putting type 2 diabetes into remission, and improving a long list of other issues. And while most individuals who adopt this way of eating experience a decrease in total cholesterol and LDL-C, in some people these…
-
The Mechanisms Behind Lactose Intolerance
A recent paper highlights the mechanisms behind lactose intolerance, a clinical syndrome that causes patients to display symptoms on consumption of food substances containing lactose, the disaccharide present in dairy, milk products, and mammalian milk.
-
Exploring Cholesterol & CVD
A series of papers published recently in Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity highlights the growing divide between approaches to cardiovascular disease (CVD) that focus on LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) and clinical observations that are leading researchers and practicing physicians to refocus attention on other factors that may play a bigger role in atherosclerosis and CVD.
-
Omega-3s & Blood Pressure
A meta-analysis describing the dosing relationship between omega-3 fatty acid supplementation and blood pressure was recently published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. A systematic literature search yielded 71 eligible randomized controlled trials included in the analysis, with an overall sample size of nearly 5,000 participants aged 22 to 86. Seventy-nine percent of…