In my Integrative & Functional Medical practice, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to diet and nutritional supplement recommendations. Patients come to me following a variety of diet plans - everything from vegan to keto. I also prescribe a variety of food plans for my patients, and I customize nutraceutical supplement recommendations for each individual. To do this - I tend to dig deep with laboratory data to answer the question: Is your current diet and supplement plan meeting your nutritional needs?

Are you having trouble getting into an exercise routine? Do you find yourself making excuses and/or skipping exercise because you feel like you don’t have time for an hour-long workout? Maybe you should start with “baby steps”, as a new study in the European Heart Journal found that even a little exercise can go a long way.

Do new year’s resolutions work? Many research studies suggest they do not. So what if, instead of a new year’s resolution, this year, you set a new year’s intention? Because even though there is value in setting specific goals and resolutions, there is also value in zooming out to bring clarity on what matters to you most. That’s the power of intentions.

We all know that too much sugar (of any kind) is bad for our health, but there are natural sweeteners that are less problematic than just plain cane sugar. Let’s break down what you need to know about four natural sweeteners you may have seen in ingredient lists.

When your lifestyle is at odds with your internal body clock (your circadian rhythm), it can cause everything from fatigue to insomnia, anxiety, depression, weight gain, and more. Whether or not you’ve disrupted your circadian rhythm yet or not, anybody can begin TODAY to live in better alignment with their circadian rhythms.

Daily rhythms keep your body ticking like a clock. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of body processes that follow a 24-hour clock: Hormones, Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar, Immune Function, Detoxification, and Digestion. That’s right—nearly every body process has a daily cycle—it’s called the circadian rhythm

Insulin resistance means that the cells in the body have become less responsive to insulin, which leads to elevated insulin and blood sugar levels. This leads to more belly fat, hunger/cravings, and fatigue - and if left unchecked, can lead to type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even many cancers. That’s why it’s critical to take insulin resistance seriously.

Insulin resistance means that the cells in the body have become less responsive to insulin, which leads to elevated insulin and blood sugar levels. This leads to more belly fat, hunger/cravings, and fatigue - and if left unchecked, can lead to type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even many cancers. That’s why it’s critical to take insulin resistance seriously.

Belly fat, sugar/carb cravings, and low energy - these are three symptoms I commonly hear from patients in my Integrative & Functional Medicine practice - and all three are often related to a common root cause: Blood sugar dysregulation.

Bringing hormones into balance requires a commitment to healthy habits, but we can support the process with targeted nutritional supplements. When considering nutritional supplements for estrogen dominance, there are 3 categories to consider: Gut Support - for proper estrogen elimination, Liver Support - for healthy estrogen metabolism, and Hormone Support - for estrogen-progesterone balance.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and we’re focusing on one of the most common hormone imbalances I see in practice - ESTROGEN DOMINANCE.

There is no pill anybody can take to magically correct estrogen dominance.

Estrogen dominance is a common pattern in women, where estrogen levels are high in comparison to progesterone levels. Our hormones respond to so many aspects of our physiology that it can take some detective work to figure out the root cause of estrogen dominance.

Hormone Balance is one of the most common reasons patients seek my care, and for good reason! Hormones have profound effects on your mental, physical, and emotional health and well-being.

Plastic. There is plastic in your fast food. Researchers at George Washington University purchased 64 items from fast-food restaurants, tested them for 11 harmful chemicals, and detected 10 of those 11 chemicals.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, each organ system of the body has a time of day that it is more active than others. For the liver? It’s 1-3am. That means that if you repeatedly wake up at 3am, it’s possible your liver is overworked or you need some additional support for detoxification.

Plastic. There is plastic in your fast food. Researchers at George Washington University purchased 64 items from fast-food restaurants, tested them for 11 harmful chemicals, and detected 10 of those 11 chemicals.

100% avoidance of toxins is never possible. That’s why it’s important to support our body’s inherent ability to metabolize, detoxify, and eliminate toxins on a daily basis. One of the best ways to do this is through food.

Here are 5 delicious foods to support everyday detoxification.

More than 85,000 chemicals are known to be circulating in everyday products in the US alone—in cosmetics, clothing, furniture, electronics, cleaning products, construction materials, and more. Taking simple steps to enhance your body's detoxification pathways can help to keep you in balance. Let's start with the basics.

More than ⅓ of adults in the US don’t get enough sleep, and it could be bad for the waistline. New research from Mayo Clinic shows that a lack of sleep combined with free access to food leads to higher calorie consumption and increased belly fat.

Whether it’s seasonal sneezing or a year-round runny nose, it’s possible that your home could be making allergies worse! When it comes to improving our health, it’s easy to forget about the importance of our surroundings. Even if nobody in your family struggles with allergies, taking these steps can improve your odds of staying allergy-free!