Nutrition & Lifestyle

Quenching the Dehydration Nation

By Deanna Minich, PhD & Erik Goldman

Earlier this year, a game-changing study looking at the long-term health impact of dehydration gained the attention of CNN, NBC News, and other major media outlets. The massive project, part of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, followed over 11,000 individuals for 25 years, to test a hypothesis […]

UPshots: Nutrition Research Roundup

By Janet Gulland, Contributing Writer

Research on vitamins, herbs, and nutraceuticals continues to grow worldwide. Here are summaries of a few recent studies that have grabbed our attention here at Holistic Primary Care. Modified Atkins Reduces Seizures in Drug Resistant Epilepsy A modified Atkins diet—a less restrictive version of the “classic” high-fat, low carb ketogenic diet—can reduce seizure frequency and […]

Intermittent Fasting and Immune System Rejuvenation

By Rob Silverman, DC

The following article is excerpted and adapted from the new book, Immune Reboot: Your Guide to Maximizing Immunity, Restoring Gut Health, and Optimizing Vitality. When the body is dealing with chronic disease or low-level systemic inflammation, the immune system becomes dysregulated. It becomes imbalanced, and clogged with old white blood cells that aren’t functioning well. […]

Food Insecurity Drives Healthcare Spending

By Erik Goldman

Food insecurity, which currently affects more than 60 million Americans, is a serious problem in its own right. But it is also a major driver of increased healthcare spending, according to data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Deepak Palakshappa, MD, an internist at Wake Forest University, led a team that analyzed data from 14,666 […]

Teenage Diabetes on the Rise

By August West, Contributing Writer

If current trends continue, the total number of American teenagers living with diabetes will rise by at least 12% by the year 2060, a surge driven largely by a staggering 70% increase in Type 2 disease. That’s the troubling message from Thaddäus Tönnies and colleagues at the Leibniz Center for Diabetes Research at the Heinrich […]

Mediterranean Diet Reduces Risk of Gestational Diabetes, Ecclampsia

By August West, Contributing Writer

Women who follow a Mediterranean diet pattern—high in fresh vegetables and fruits, nuts, whole grains, legumes, and fish, but low in saturated fats, red meat, and processed foods—have a markedly lower risk of gestational diabetes, eclampsia, pre-eclampsia, and other adverse outcomes of pregnancy. That’s the key signal from a new study of nearly 8,000 geographically, […]

One in Every Two IBD Patients Is Zinc Deficient

By Janet Gulland, Contributing Writer

One in every two people with irritable bowel disease (IBD) is zinc-deficient, according to a recent systematic review of nine studies representing more than 2,400 IBD patients. The prevalence of zinc deficiency, based on serum zinc measurements, was higher among those with Crohn’s disease (CD), affecting 54% of the patients in this subgroup, versus 41% […]

Winter Tips for Optimal Skin Health

By Erik Goldman

With a surface area of more than 20 square feet, and a weight comprising roughly 15% of a person’s total mass, the skin is the body’s largest organ. It is the place where the inside meets the outside world, and vice versa. Because conventional medicine has divided the body into departments or “ologies,” primary care […]

Framingham Data Link High Omegas with Better Midlife Brain Health

By Erik Goldman

New data from the third generation of the Framingham Heart Study indicate that higher red blood cell Omega-3 concentrations correlate with healthier brain structure and better cognitive function in midlife. The study also suggests that the effects of Omega-3 fatty acids on the brain are mediated, to some degree by apolipoprotein-E (APOE) genotype. “In multivariable […]