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Shiitake Mushrooms: Make Sure They’re Well-Cooked

By Janet Gulland, Contributing Writer

Shiitake mushrooms (Lentinula edodes) are a healthful and nutritious culinary delight—provided they’re cooked thoroughly. Eaten raw or undercooked, however, they can trigger a florid dermatitis in some people. A recent case report in the New England Journal of Medicine provides an important reminder of the possibility of this uncommon but dramatic reaction. Drs. Eglė Janušonytė […]

How One Non-Profit is Freeing Millions from Medical Debt

By Janet Gulland, Contributing Writer

Over the last decade, a non-profit organization called RIP Medical Debt has quietly emancipated millions of Americans from the crippling burden of healthcare bills that they simply cannot afford to pay. How? By using funds contributed by donors large and small to buy debts for pennies on the dollar—at the same prices that collections agencies […]

Maternal Marijuana Use is Bad News for Baby

By Janet Gulland, Contributing Writer

Use of marijuana during pregnancy, especially in the first trimester, significantly raises the risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, and perinatal complications that require neonatal intensive care. Those are the main conclusions of a massive metanalysis and systematic review of 57 studies looking at the impact of in utero cannabis exposure. Combined, the studies […]

Aspartame Lingers, Triggers Insulin Secretion

By Janet Gulland, Contributing Writer

Aspartame from artificially-sweetened soft drinks can linger in saliva, triggering insulin secretion long after the sweetener is swallowed. This, in turn, can cause blood glucose to drop resulting in appetite surges that nullify the alleged weight management benefits of the widely popular artificial sweetener. That’s the logical conclusion of a new study by Brasilian researchers […]

Telemedicine on the Rise in Holistic Healthcare

By Erik Goldman

Telemedicine is now commonplace in holistic medical practices, and practitioners who offer teleconsultations are very satisfied with the experience. That’s one of the main findings from Holistic Primary Care’s 2023 practitioner survey, conducted over the summer in collaboration with Nutrition Business Journal. The 70-question survey covered a broad range of topics—from the impact of the […]

Naturopathic Schools Scrap Merger Plan

By Erik Goldman

After months of deliberation and community feedback, Bastyr University and National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM) have decided against moving forward with a proposed merger. In a joint statement issued on November 7, Drs. Melanie Henriksen & Devin Byrd, the presidents of NUNM and Bastyr, respectively, stated that, “we believe at this time it is […]

In Memoriam: Roland R. Griffiths, PhD (July 19, 1946–October 16, 2023)

By Erik Goldman

Holistic Primary Care honors the memory and legacy of Roland Redmond Griffiths, PhD, a visionary neuroscientist and psychopharmacologist who was among the leaders of the recent renaissance of serious clinical research on psychedelics. Griffiths died at the age of 77 of metastatic colon cancer on October 16, 2023, at his home in Baltimore, MD. He […]

Supporting Whole-Body Health During Menopause: The Latest Research & Holistic Approaches

By Erik Goldman

In this webinar, Cory Ambrose, ND, MAT presents the latest research on how to guide your patients through menopause. She discusses the physiological changes that occur during this time, with special attention to the interactions between estrogen and various neurotransmitter systems. We will highlight well-researched, novel phytonutrients to help support healthy hormone and vasomotor balance. […]

Clearing Psoriasis With High-Dose Vitamin D

By Erik Goldman

A small but compelling case series published last year suggests that mega-doses of vitamin D can yield dramatic improvement in the severity of longstanding psoriasis. And by “mega,” we mean doses as high as 60,000 IU per day. Renu Mahtani, a physician at the Autoimmunity Treatment Centre, Pune, India, together with Pradeep M.K. Nair of […]

Curcumin is Comparable to Omeprazole for Dyspepsia

By August West, Contributing Writer

Supplementation with 500 mg of curcumin, four times daily, is comparable to the drug omeprazole (Prilosec) for reducing symptoms of dyspepsia, according to a recent double-blind, head-to-head study published in the British Medical Journal’s Evidence-Based Medicine. Pradermchai Kongkam and colleagues at the Department of Internal Medicine, Chulalongkorn University Faculty of Medicine, Bangkok, randomized 209 patients […]