Last week, a patient, Ted, came in saying he had been experiencing a funny, metallic taste in his mouth for a while and was worried that it may be serious. I explained to him that there were a number of possible reasons for him having this taste in his mouth but we’d do a complete exam and see what we come up with. If you experience a metallic taste in your mouth, you’ll want to know what I told Ted about his funny taste. When Something Tastes Funny Every now and then you might get a funny, metallic taste in […]
Sometimes I’ll see patients with the complaint that they’re having trouble swallowing, or a sensation that food is getting stuck in their throat and doesn’t go down easily. The medical term for this is a hard word to pronounce –dysphagia (dis-faj-ah) – and could stem from a number of causes. If you experience difficult swallowing, here’s what you should know about it. Dysphagia – What Trouble Swallowing Could Mean Trouble swallowing – dysphagia – rarely occurs on its own. It usually accompanies some other condition of which it is a symptom. It most frequently occurs in older people, and those with […]
I see patients all the time who are confused about antioxidants. Often they think if they take vitamin C, they’ve got their bases covered. This just isn’t the case. To understand why, let’s take a deeper look at how your body works. When you eat food, the process your body uses to convert it to energy creates byproducts called free radicals. These free radicals are reactive molecules. When they encounter a healthy cell, they damage it and also create more free radicals. This process happens all through your body both in water-based tissues and in fat-based tissues. Your body uses antioxidants to clean up […]
Mounting evidence documents the ability of carnosine to prevent many of the detrimental effects of aging. In our youth, carnosine shields us from the onslaught of oxidation, glycation, DNA damage, and other reactions that injure tissues and cripple organs. The problem is that as we grow older, carnosine levels in the body decline
When I explain alternative treatment options to my patients often I get asked this one question “Is there an herb I can
The June, 2012 issue of Cell Metabolism reports the discovery of
The need in humans to lose weight from time to time is an age-old problem.
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 I tell my patients about the ORAC value of foods and its importance to your health. What’s ORAC and Why Is It In My Food? ORAC is the acronym for Oxygen Radical Absorbency Capacity – an antioxidant measurement system developed by researchers at the National […]
What’s So Special About The Mediterranean Diet? Health researchers have known for a while
We’ve all come across a few people who look nowhere near their age—and we’d love to know their secret. In a bid to look great and keep ourselves healthy, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with so much “stuff” out there. In order to help you make sense of what’s being sold, we decided to look at five of the more realistic and expert-backed helpful hints. 1. Stock up on wine and chocolate. Most of us have heard news about red wine being good for us in moderation—very encouraging for wine lovers! Red wine has resveratrol. According to some research, resveratrol […]