ARFID: When Food Trigger Avoidance Causes Trouble

By Erik Goldman

ARFID is defined as a severe limitation on the number, types, and quantity of foods consumed, driven by a desire to avoid triggering gastrointestinal symptom flares. Over time, it can lead to significant weight loss, and nutritional deficiency. (Image: Bethany Doerfler, RD)

People living with chronic digestive disorders like inflammatory bowel disease often figure out the hard way—by trial and error—which food groups trigger their symptom flares.

And since many go for years without competent medical and nutritional guidance, they rely on their own experience, the advice of friends, or online information to create their own elimination diets.

All too often, this means they end up avoiding so many different foods that they become seriously under-nourished.

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Pain Brain: Chronic Pain Drives Cognitive Decline

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A massive new study of data from over 19,000 individuals shows that chronic pain is associated with loss of hippocampal volume and increased risk of dementia. Compared with pain-free control subjects, those who had five or more areas of chronic pain showed neurological changes equivalent to eight years of excess brain aging (Zhao W, et […]

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HPC Video

Diet, Inflammation, and Immunity: Modern & Traditional Perspectives

Written by Erik Goldman

Ayurveda–India’s 4,000-year-old system of medicine–can provide modern healthcare professions with many time-tested, lifestyle-based approaches to mitigate the burden of chronic inflammatory diseases that affect so many of our patients.

In this free webinar, the core faculty members of the Maharishi International University (MIU)–the leading US ayurvedic training center–share their experience applying ayurvedic principles for improving digestion, strengthening immunity, and balancing inflammation.

The session also serves as an introduction to MIU’s new Fellowship and Master of Science in Integrative Medicine and Ayurveda for Medical Professionals.

In this free webinar, we’ll cover:

  • The links between diet, chronic inflammation, and overall health.
  • The fundamental principles of the anti-inflammatory diet.
  • Ayurvedic concepts that further illuminate the connections between digestion, immunity, and chronic inflammation.
  • Practical Ayurvedic tips for promoting balanced digestion.

PRESENTERS:

Arti Prasad, MD, FACP, ABOIM
Fellowship Director, Adjunct Professor, Maharishi International University;

Chief Strategic Development Officer, Hennepin Healthcare, MN

Charles Elder, MD, MPH, FACP,
Fellowship Executive Director, Adjunct Associate Professor,

Maharishi International University

Sankari Wegman, PhD, Fellowship Assistant Director, Assistant Professor,
Maharishi International University

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