Breakfast breaks the fasting period our bodies undergo while we’re sleeping. You can quickly see why breakfast is essential: your body has just gone through hours with no nutrients. When you awake and begin your day, you need fuel.
Category: Nutrition, Nutritional Supplements, Vitamins, & Herbal Remedies
Importance of Magnesium
People who schedule visits with nutritionists are usually surprised to find themselves almost always walking out with a bottle of magnesium tablets along with some suitable vitamins and a healthful eating program.
Q&A: Vitamin D
Q: You’ve written a lot about the value of vitamin D, especially for women living in overcast places. I live in Minneapolis and I’m wondering how much I should take every day. Also, I read that vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin and there are risks if you take too much. How much is too much?
Vitamin Graveyard
Do you have a “vitamin graveyard?” You probably do but just never called it that. You’ll find it on your kitchen countertop or along a shelf in your medicine cabinet. Maybe it’s your bathroom window ledge.
Q&A: Bromelain Dose for Anti-Inflammatory Effect
Q: Ever since you wrote about bromelain I’ve wanted to try it, as you suggested, instead of aspirin or ibuprofen. I’m managing my heel spur pain well with the help of my physical therapist, but she encourages me to take an anti-inflammatory when I have pain. Would you tell me what dose of bromelain I should use? Also, does it work for arthritis?
Another Reason You Need Vitamins
During my now rather lengthy professional career, I’ve been hearing the same song-and-dance from conventional physicians about vitamins. It’s a variation on the theme “our food is plenty nutritious by itself” (now proven untrue) or “you just end up having nutritious urine” (the B vitamin riboflavin colors urine a dazzling yellow).
Ginkgo Biloba
Ginkgo biloba has the longest life span of any tree, with some ginkgo trees
estimated to be more than 1,000 years old. Even more astonishing is that
ginkgo, as a survivor of the Ice Age, has been around for more than 200
million years.
Holiday Stress Rx: Part 2
Click here for the Health Tip link. Women play such a central role in family and celebration, to the degree that the stress of holiday demands can make you feel exhausted, anxious, and sick. Taking some time for yourself may seem counterintuitive, but it’s precisely what you need. Here’s another prescription for keeping healthy during […]
Most Common Deficiencies: Zinc
Click here for the Health Tip link. A popular blood test in our office measures levels of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. It seems reasonable that as long as you’re spending good money on nutritional supplements, you might as well see if they’re being absorbed. It’s also helpful that some health insurance companies (notably, Blue Cross) […]
Nutritional Bad News
Click here for the Health Tip link. The government has made official what’s been common knowledge among nutritionally oriented practitioners for years: the vitamin and mineral content of our fruits and vegetables has been in steady decline since the 1950s, when scientists first began to measure them. Researchers sampled produce from grocery stores all over […]
Ginkgo Biloba
A lot of my patients ask me about taking ginkgo for memory. Here’s my answer, with a little extra detail: Ginkgo biloba has the longest life span of any tree, with some ginkgo trees estimated to be more than 1,000 years old. Even more astonishing is that ginkgo, as a survivor of the Ice Age, […]
Homocysteine and Your Health
The medical profession has done a good job alerting the public to the dangers of high cholesterol, with ample help from the pharmaceutical industry.
Q&A: Supplements for Better Breathing
Q: My husband has congestive heart failure. While he’s getting excellent care from his physicians, I’m wondering if there are any supplements you could recommend that would improve his breathing. A: The single most useful supplement for congestive heart failure is coenzyme Q-10. Many cardiologists are aware of this, but because it’s not yet FDA-approved […]
Preventing Cancer with One Good Choice
You can prevent cancer by eating more vegetables, and specifically more cruciferous vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and Brussels sprouts.
More than half of all cancers in US adults are likely caused by poor diet, and many others develop because we’re exposed to a gruesome soup of environmental toxins in our food, air, and water.
Supplements I Take: Acetyl-L-Carnitine
I ask every new patient what prescription medications and supplements she takes. Occasionally, someone turns the tables and asks me what my daily supplement regimen consists of.
Is Vitamin C Worthwhile?
I’m asked this question a lot.
You’d think the controversy would be over by now. Among doctors who take vitamins regularly (now the majority), vitamin C is always included.
Fish Oil Now by Prescription
Yes, you read that correctly. But don’t worry–fish oil will still be sold here and at your health food store.
Believe me, I was surprised when the drug rep came in with samples and said the fish oil capsules her company was making would be covered under most health insurance plans. I have mixed emotions about this.
Yet Another Reason to Enjoy Fruit
I’m not sure how far this will go to replace Pop Tarts with your children, but some new research reveals that children 16 to 18 years old as well as women 60 to 83 who ate fruit regularly had much better bones than those who didn’t.
Melatonin and Perimenopause
I was surprised to see a clinical report using the nutritional supplement melatonin in the Annals of the New York Academy of Science, simply because it’s a very conservative journal, rarely acknowledging the existence of natural medicine.
Q&A: Interactions Between Antidepressants and Supplements
Q: I’m currently taking Effexor and Wellbutrin for depression. Eventually I’d like to eliminate these medications. Will the Triple Whammy supplements harm me in any way while taking these prescribed medications?