Tag Archives: diet

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 13 Issue 30

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Asthma, Allergies and Nutrition – The Story
Here is a long form look at asthma and allergies as I am preparing a lecture on asthma and allergies for a conference in October. I will break it up into a few parts for your consumption.
  • Asthma is now well known to be an inflammatory disease based on the response to anti-inflammatory medications and pathophysiological evidence making it a prime candidate for anti-inflammatory nutritional interventions.
  • The Standard American Diet is filled with pro-inflammatory highly refined and processed foods that are laden with excessive amounts of sugar and unhealthy fats thus promoting inflammatory pathways that exacerbate disease.
  • The genesis of the inflammation is now believed to start in part in the intestinal and pulmonary microbiomes with the loss of immune tolerance. The intestinal microbiome is highly responsive to whole food dietary alterations.
  • Uric acid, a by product of fructose metabolism, is becoming a known driver of inflammasome activation and local tissue inflammation
  • We will discuss in depth the food choices that lower the inflammatory burden, the asthma phenotype and the food immune reactions that exacerbate disease……..

Enjoy,

Dr. M

Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast #50 – Richard Johnson, MD – Fructose and Perinatal Issues

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This weeks guest is my favorite researcher, Dr. Richard Johnson.
He is the Tomas Berl Professor of Medicine and the Chief of the Renal Division and Hypertension at the University of Colorado since 2008. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with a major in Anthropology, and a graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, he is a physician and nephrologist whose research has focused on the role of sugar, and especially fructose, in driving obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney disease. Much of this work has explored the role of fructose metabolism, especially the generation of uric acid, in driving this phenotype, and his work has included studies ranging from molecular biology, integrative physiology, and evolutionary biology. He is the author of The Sugar Fix which introduced the first low fructose diet, and also The Fat Switch which explores the role of fructose in driving the obesity epidemic. His newest book, Nature Wants Us To Be Fat, is a tour de force of the entire pathway of survival via metabolic events in the body related to fructose and the polyol pathway. This is a must read book.
This podcast will follow up on the original conversation, podcast #14, and the exceptional work of Dr. Johnson this time looking at how we are mismatched metabolically for the environment of modern America and our food systems from the maternal health and perinatal perspective.
Enjoy,
Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 13 Issue 24

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Breastfeeding Versus Formula
Science versus Opinion
I read with somewhat of a frustrated feeling a recent article in Scientific American entitled: It’s Okay Not to Breastfeed by Kavin Senapathy. In principle, the reality of this statement is reasonable. Then you read the article as to what makes this reasonable. She states: “Exclusive breastfeeding is not imperative, and the “breast is best” mantra can be harmful to babies and parents, especially among marginalized people.”(K. Senapathy 2023) Again, at first blush this may seem reasonable. Let’s dig into the science and the truth of breast versus cow milk based formula for optimal health for a child. Does formula in all of its forms work for infant nutrition in order to grow and survive in a reasonable way? The answer is a resounding yes, however, this does not tell the whole story, far from it…..
Enjoy,
Dr. M

Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast – The Growing Brain and Autism

The Growing Brain and the Upstream Etiologies of Neurodevelopmental disorders – AUTISM
This weeks guest is me! I re-recorded a lecture that I gave in Florida this month at the Annual International Conference for the Institute for Functional Medicine. My goal in this lecture is to look at the upstream reasons that we are seeing more Autism and neurological diversity in children year upon year. It is a wide ranging look at the current state of the science and my thoughts on a unifying theory. As with Dr. Stone’s interview last week with Grow Baby, this is a follow up discussion that is a critical primer for “mother’s to be” regarding disease avoidance measures that can be taken for the best health of the maternal child dyad.
Enjoy,
Dr. M

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Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 13 Issue 15

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High Density Lipoprotein – We are going to take a deep look at this very complex biological topic. Bear with me as in the end it will all make more sense as to why “good cholesterol” is not inherently good or bad as much as it just is. Our lifestyle decisions are in effect making a biological process good or bad. That is my scientific understanding at this time. We also look at COVID19 and the effects on the heart this week.

Enjoy,

Dr. M

Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast #45 – Briana Pobiner PhD– Origins of Human Meat Consumption

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Briana Pobiner PhD
This weeks guest is super interesting. Briana Pobiner is a paleoanthropologist whose research centers on the evolution of human diet with a focus on meat-eating. Briana has a BA from Bryn Mawr College, where she created her own major called Evolutionary Studies. Then she completed a Masters degree followed by her PhD in Anthropology from Rutgers University. Briana is also an Associate Research Professor of Anthropology in the Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology at the George Washington University.
She has done fieldwork in Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, and Indonesia and has been supported in her research by the National Geographic Society, the National Science Foundation and the Society for American Archaeology. We discuss some of her favorite field moments including a run in with a white rhino as well as discovering fossil bones that were last touched, butchered and eaten by one of her 1.5-million-year-old ancestors. Since joining the Smithsonian in 2005 to help put together the Hall of Human Origins, in addition to continuing her active field, laboratory, and experimental research programs, she leads the Human Origins Program’s education and outreach efforts which includes managing the Human Origins Program’s public programs, website content, social media, and exhibition volunteer training. Briana has also more recently developed a research program in evolution education and science communication. She is the recipient of the 2021 American Association of Biological Anthropologists and Leakey Foundation Communication and Outreach Award in Honor of Camilla Smith, and a 2021 National Center for Science Education Friend of Darwin award.
Enjoy,
Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 13 Issue 13

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Cholesterol Lipid Hypothesis Part IV – Endothelial Dysfunction
How does an artery clog? Let us recap a little at this time. 1) Cholesterol and lipoproteins are significant and necessary for pathology to develop but not the only player in heart disease and atherosclerosis. I believe that inflammation is the root cause of the problem driving the lipid imbalance and plaque formation. 2) Lipoproteins are produced and recycled every day in order to deliver energy to tissues around the body via triglycerides and are a part of the ancient innate immune system. They are primed and ready to fight all systemic pathogens that are trying to hurt us. 3) Your genetic makeup may dictate whether you produce and/or recycle more cholesterol/lipoproteins than are advantageous in our current environment….Plus a discussion on acne.
Enjoy,
Dr. M

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