When I ask my patients how many ORACs they take in a day, they give me a kind of lost look. One patient humorously asked me once, “Is that some kind of fruit?” Well, yes and no. ORACs are in fruit – but they’re not a food per se. Let me share with you what … Read more
For many years doctors and nutritionists have told their patients to stay away from tropical oils because they are saturated fats that were thought to raise “bad” LDL cholesterol levels and not be heart-healthy. However, some of my patients have recently read or heard about the health benefits of coconut oil and are confused as … Read more
Only several years ago, olive oil was only really thought of as a specialty cooking oil you would buy in the “foreign food” section of the grocery store, mostly when you wanted to whip up a Mediterranean-type recipe that called for it. Even I was unaware of all the health benefits of olive oil, as well as its multiple other uses, until just a short time ago. Now, I routinely recommend it to all my patients, 1-2 tablespoons daily, for all the wonderful health benefits it confers. And that’s not all. My patients are frequently sharing with me new uses of olive oil that they’ve discovered and I’d like to share some of those with you.
Some of my over 40 male patients are concerned about whether or not they may have erectile dysfunction. We go over their symptoms (see below) and often times they do have a classic ED picture. However, when I ask these patients if anyone in their family has had heart disease, they’re frequently baffled at what that has to do with their ED? As I explain, though there are other causes of ED, recent research has shown that a man’s heart health can also be directly related to ED symptoms. Here’s why.
Many of my patients love coffee as I do – the smell, the taste, the pick up it gives, but they frequently ask me if it’s bad for them and if they should cut down on the amount they drink. Perhaps you love your coffee too and are wondering the same thing. You’ll likely be as surprised as my patients are when I tell them that research has shown that several cups of coffee a day have some amazing health benefits! But like most good things, coffee also has a few drawbacks. Let me explain.
Although most of my patients who try natural testosterone enhancement report that those measures have helped, they may not have been enough to boost testosterone levels high enough to relieve their particular symptoms. The same may be true for you, and like my patients, you may now want to try direct testosterone supplementation through your doctor. In order for you to make an informed decision, here are the pros and cons that I explain to my patients about male hormone replacement.
When complicated diseases such as diabetes get out of hand, doctors must sometimes rely on prescriptions as treatment. However these prescriptions come with side effects. There are some very powerful plants that can help you regulate your blood sugar naturally and without side effects. For example fenugreek which comes with a long history of healing.
Lately, several of my patients have asked me about adding flaxseed to their diets. They’ve heard a lot about the important health benefits of Omega-3 fats and that flaxseeds are high in these good fats. While I agree that adding Omega-3 fats by adding flaxseeds to your diet is highly beneficial, you also need to exercise a little caution in doing so. Let me explain.
Heart disease and related cardiovascular diseases claim nearly half a million lives in this country each year. There’s no wonder why doctors and medical researchers have grasped onto a pharmaceutical to fight this killer. Statin drugs like Lipitor are the most-prescribed drugs in the country.
Homocysteine is an amino acid that your body uses as part of its metabolism. In a normal, healthy person, the body cleans up any excess homocysteine. But if you don’t have the right nutrients available then your homocysteine levels begin to climb. Doctors use a blood test to measure homocysteine. If your levels get up above nine, then your risk of cardiovascular diseases begins to increase.
You can’t help learning a lot about what you eat from food labels. And here’s an interesting observation. Foods containing “0g of trans fat” are all over the place. Your favorite crackers, cookies, and potato chips now proudly proclaim their trans-fat free status.
I’d like to tell you about another, new (to health research that is) superfood antioxidant that we haven’t talked about before. When I say the name of this berry to my patients they almost always wrinkle up their eyebrows and say “ a what-berry?” to which I repeat, a “chokeberry”. Even though it has a funny name, I’d like to tell you about the new fantastic health benefits researchers are now assigning to this ancient fruit.