Nutrition and Wellness go hand in hand. Food provides people with the necessary energy and nutrients to be healthy and for their bodies to perform optimally. By eating a variety of colorful foods, including good quality vegetables, fruits, whole-grain products and lean meats, the body can replenish itself with the essential macronutrient (proteins, carbohydrates, fats) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) to function effectively. Healthy eating does not have to be hard. The key is to eat a variety of foods, which include vegetables, fruits, and whole-grains. Eat lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, and low-fat dairy products and drink about half your body weight in ounces of water. Limit salt, sugar, alcohol, saturated fat, and trans fat. Saturated fats usually come from animals. Look for trans fat on the labels of processed foods, margarines, and shortenings. Dr. Alex Jimenez and his health coach offer nutritional examples as well as describe the importance of a balanced nutrition throughout this series of articles, emphasizing how a proper diet combined with physical activity can help individuals reach and maintain a healthy weight, reduce their risk of developing chronic diseases like heart disease, and ultimately promote overall health and wellness.
Exercise has been proven to help many medical conditions and reduce inflammation. However, those who are high risk do not usually feel comfortable exercising. Treating disease and developing a program for long-term health is the overall goal with exercise prescriptions. To begin, all patients must undergo an assessment of physical capabilities as well as physiological. The hard push of exercise is not something all patients are mentally ready to tolerate.
The first Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) conference was held in 1990 and discussed what PCOS is and how they were diagnosing and treating patients. They looked at oligo-anovulation, no ovulation, and too many androgens. Now, we use the Rotterdam criteria. This criterion groups together anovulation abnormal ovulation, clinical hirsutism acne (signs of hyperandrogens), and an ultrasound to view the presence of 12 or more follicles and determines if you have two out of those three then you are diagnosed with PCOS. There are multiple pathways that PCOS develops. Ultimately, these pathways are categorized into 4 groups: LIfestyle induced PCOS, Poor Fat Digestion/Sugar Burner, Inflammatory Diet/Poor Food Choices, and Genetic Predisposition.
Calories are defined as a measurement of the energy our body produces from the foods we eat. However, not all calories are created equal. If…
For those who have lactose intolerance, the LCT gene transcription is reduced, leading to a low level of lactase. To turn off LCT it involves blocking an activator or turning up a repressor. In fact, it is theorized that lactase persistence is a human evolutionary adaptation to drinking milk from domesticated animals. The mutation in the gene started to appear around the same time as the domestication of cattle.
Nutrition is considered to be one of the most well-understood environmental factors associated with changes in the epigenome. Nutrients in the foods we eat are…
Insulin is an essential hormone that regulates blood sugar levels. It is naturally produced in the pancreas and helps move excess glucose from the bloodstream…
Depression is a natural response of the body and brain when there are biochemical imbalances occurring. These imbalances can involve toxicities, inflammation, metabolic issues, and genetic predispositions. When we are in a stressful state that lasts for too long, dysautonomia occurs and we burn out, leading to depression. Bun out is what occurs when any system is operating at too high of levels for too long. No matter what the issue is, depression or adrenal exhaustion, all chronic health issues can be related back to stress. We have the ability to test the neurotransmitters and take on depression from a holistic approach.
Our genetics are heavily influenced by the environment. This meaning that the way and times our genes express heavily depend on the micronutrients and toxins we surround our bodies with. Research has found that by eating a diet specific to your genes, you have the potential to alter when the genes express, reducing your overall risk of disease. We use diagnostic laboratory testing to assess your genetic makeup and create a personalized plan for you. By discovering what diseases you are more susceptible to, genetic testing allows us to create a path that will lead you to optimal health in the future.
Researchers are trying to understand how nutrigenomics can affect a person’s health. Studies have shown that epigenetics increases the risk of several health issues. Other…
One of the best ways to reduce your chances of developing type 2 diabetes, or slow down the progression/reverse a diagnosis is to start with reducing inflammation. This is done by starting in the kitchen. Evaluate diet first. We should be eating clean locally sourced organic foods to fuel our cells and alter our genetic expression in a positive way. By eating pizza and chips we are adding fuel to the inflammation fire and throwing constant reactors at our genes, altering their expression to be pro-inflammatory rather than anti-inflammatory.
The term allostatic load refers to any type of stress occurring in the body for long periods of time. Types of stress we encounter daily from environmental stress or psychological stress have the ability to alter the way our body operates. Stress is directly linked to causing inflammation. Stressors include: Trauma/mechanical, Infection, Toxicology, Nutrient Imbalance, Neurology, and Electromagnetic. When these stressors are present and coupled with genetic polymorphisms or epigenetics we see chronic issues arise. The chronic health conditions we see from stressors and epigenetics are IBS, Fatigue, Leaky Gut, Pain, Weight, Thyroid, Inflammation, Autoimmune, Depression, and Insulin Resistance.
Healthcare professionals commonly give nutritional recommendations based on an entire population, only sometimes changing these according to age, sex, and pregnancy. Over the last 20…
The balance of homocysteine in the body is critical. Too much as we start to see neurodegenerative disorders, inflammation, and even cardiovascular disease. Homocysteine can be tricky to balance as it requires an understanding of how homocysteine is produced. Research is showing now a link between homocysteine metabolism, specific pathologies, and its influence on our genes.
The mitochondria is the “powerhouse of the cellâ€. It obtained this nickname by being the creator of ATP, or the energy our body produces to carry out functions. However, the mitochondria is responsible for so much more than that. More recently, studies have been showing a link between mitochondrial health and degenerative age-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and others. Mitochondrial dysfunction can be linked and grouped into three categories: neurodegenerative diseases, immune diseases, and hepatic diseases.
We have found that approaching the body as a whole rather than treating it as compartments gives patients the most relief. As research develops, it is found that over 125 clinical conditions have been identified as having inflammation along with oxidative stress as a contributing factor to the diagnosis! Oxidative stress impacts our bodys chemical pathways and genes!
Every single cell in our body requires energy to complete its functions. The energy our body creates and uses is known as ATP. ATP is created in the mitochondria and relies on a mixture of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates to source its fuel. This energy is created in an essential process called The Krebs Cycle. Similar to other functions throughout the body, when inflammation occurs important process can become hindered and not performed to their greatest extent. We have the ability to maximize our Krebs Cycle by the food we eat, ultimately leading to a postive alteration in our genes and reduced inflammation throughout our body.
As humans, we share genetic similarities and differences. Our genes are associated with our cellular defense and the risk we have for diseases. Additionally, part of our genetic differences include the rate in which enzymes in our bodies operate. Enzymes are important when it comes to cellular health as they determine the speed and activity of genes. Our diet heavily impacts our genetic expression and the metabolic pathways involved in all cellular functions. In order to reduce muscle pain, improve skeletal and overall health, diet needs to be considered as one of the top forms of medicine.