So you take a few fish oil capsules every day. You try to eat fish once or twice a week. But is that enough to take full advantage of the heart health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids? Is it enough to maximally reduce risk for heart attack and other cardiovascular events?
If you take fish oil capsules, what is the concentration of omega-3... Read more
Cranberries will soon be bursting on the scene, fresh from the fall harvest.
Cranberries have a rich history of uses for health. Cranberry poultices to heal wounds were used during American colonial days. Sailors carried cranberries on long voyages to prevent scurvy (vitamin C deficiency).
More recently, cranberries have been... Read more
Let me tell you about Laura.
Laura is a slender, active 43-year old mother of two. Laura was concerned about her risk for heart disease, given her Dad's heart attack and bypass surgery at age 48, her brother's heart attack and two stents at age 42.
Laura has never smoked, has normal blood pressure (106/72), normal... Read more
Metabolic syndrome - you might know it as pre-diabetes - is that
increasingly common collection of low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood sugar, and high blood pressure. 1 in 4 Americans now have it.
Metabolic syndrome might be better called "metabolic turmoil," since there's a boiling pot of metabolic disruptions at... Read more
Susie is a petite 5 ft 3 inch woman who weighs 102 lbs. Her starting 25-hydroxy vitamin D level was 42 ng/ml in summer.
Claire, on the other hands, struggles with her weight. Also at 5 ft 3 inches but weighing 221 lbs, Claire's starting vitamin D level was 23 ng/ml, also during the summer - severe deficiency.
I ask patients to... Read more