by Kara Fitzgerald, ND Allergy season is in high gear. The trees are budding and pollen is bursting forth in Connecticut. As our winters are warmer, we’re also seeing allergies kick in sooner, perhaps with a higher intensity than in years past. While most of us are cracking our windows open and emerging from the winter cocoon into the welcoming sun, our spring allergy patients step outside or crack their windows and they’re bombarded immediately with an almost invisible (to the non-sufferer)…

What do we know about hormones for menopause? What are the risks and the benefits for women? Erika Schwartz, MD Chief Medical Officer at the Age Management Institute discusses the state of science and uses of hormone therapy for health concerns and improving quality of life. Dr. Schwartz also discusses the importance of preventative and individualized medicine for women. Presented at the Integrative Healthcare Symposium Annual Conference (IHS) in New York City – February 22, 2017 View the slides  …

by Ashley Jordan Ferira, PhD, RDN A food fortification trial demonstrated that 600 IU of daily vitamin D3 had a significantly greater impact than 600 IU of daily vitamin D2 in elevating serum blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D].1-2 Vitamin D is essential for skeletal health and many emerging extraskeletal physiological processes, but remains one of the most common micronutrient dietary gaps, resulting in widespread hypovitaminosis D globally. Understanding how much vitamin D the body needs daily, in what form, and from what sources…

Clinicians and healthcare practitioners have a unique opportunity in advocating lifestyle medicine because patients see them as a reliable source of advice. However, there are still numerous technical and logistic challenges to overcome before personal “big data” can be translated into actionable and clinically relevant solutions. Clinicians are also facing various issues prior to bringing personalized lifestyle medicine to their practice. Nevertheless, emerging ground-breaking research projects have given us a glimpse of how systems thinking and computational methods may lead…

This research review discusses how the combination of undenatured type II collagen and tetrahydro iso-alpha acids help revitalize joint function and support an active lifestyle. Arthritis is not a single condition. In fact, there are more than 100 different forms of arthritis. The 2 most common types of arthritis, whose main feature is joint pain, are osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). OA is a degenerative joint disease characterized by active bone remodeling, articular cartilage degradation, and synovial inflammation resulting…

Dyslipidemia is a prominent risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) and impacts over half of US adults. Lifestyle interventions, particularly those incorporating medical nutrition therapy, are essential in the management of dyslipidemia, to halt progression towards advanced CVD and metabolic disease. The primary objective of this multi-site, prospective case series was to measure changes in the plasma atherogenic lipid profile and metabolic syndrome-related variables in 24 overweight patients with dyslipidemia at baseline, 4 weeks after daily consumption of a…

This open-label, multi-clinic study in 12 patients with digestive disorders demonstrated that consuming 2 servings daily of an innovative structured nutrition therapy for 6 weeks: Reduced GI symptoms and improved overall GI quality of life Increased production of SCFA, including butyrate Increased levels of Bifidobacterium spp. Reduced potential harmful intestinal microbiota Despite the limited sample size in this preliminary study, this targeted nutrition therapy approach offers promise as a novel nutritional therapy for patients with compromised gut function. Download the…

Effects of a novel hops extract & undenatured collagen combination in a case series of subjects with chronic arthritic joint discomfort According to the National Health Interview Survey, 30% of US adults have reported experiencing some type of joint pain during the preceding 30 days. Hops-derived tetrahydroiso-alpha acids (THIAA) –a mixture of co-, n-, and ad-congeners –have been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory properties in vitro and to reduce bone cartilage degradation in a mouse model of RA. This case series provides…

by Bianca Garilli, ND, IFMCP A common concern in peri- and postmenopausal years is weight gain, typically 1.5 pounds per year during the fifth and sixth decades of life and shown to be independent of a woman’s initial body size or race/ethnicity. It was previously believed that the increase in weight coincided with the onset of menopause most likely due to the drop in estrogen levels. Although declining estrogen levels has, in fact, been shown to lead to an increase…