Patient Education Blog

WHY ARE CARBOHYDRATES IMPORTANT?

Cancer Fighting Properties of Cruciferous Vegetables

What are Cruciferous vegetables anyway?   The word Cruciferae is Latin for ‘cross bearing’ because the 4 petals resemble a cross. While these veggies grow in all different colors, shapes and sizes, they share several nutritional benefits.  Most...

Eat Walnuts to Extend Your Life

Walnuts, a food native to Persia, now produced widely in California, have been a staple of a healthy diet for thousands of years.  Known to the Greeks as the ‘nut of Jupiter’, they were considered a food fit for the gods.  Today, walnuts remain at the top of...

Folate Deficiency and Dementia

Folate is essential for many processes in the body including brain development and function, DNA synthesis and more. Its role in many reactions in the body suggests folate is important for helping prevent certain cancers, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease,...

What Do Food Labels Mean?

We all want to know what’s in our food, how it is produced, and where it comes from. But food companies are often not required to give us this information and we often don’t dig deeper to seek it.  The array of labels on some foods can be overwhelming. It is...

What is GMO?

GMO simply means genetically modified organism or the earlier definition of ‘living organism whose genetic material has been artificially manipulated in a laboratory through genetic engineering’.  GMO has been around for thousands of years but the GMO we think of...

Zinc, Are you Getting Enough?

Not likely!! It is estimated by Oregon State University that more than 2 billion people worldwide are deficient in zinc. Researchers found an association between zinc deficiency and increased breakage of peripheral blood cell DNA strands.   Zinc is a...

Necklace That Tracks Glucose

Most all of us by now have heard of know someone that is using a ‘wearing’ glucose device such as Libre, Dexcom or Guardian sensors. This technology provides continuous glucose data without the drudgery of fingersticks. What if knowing your glucose levels was as...

Laughter is the Best Medicine

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine…Proverbs 17:22. The power of laugher has long been recognized by both medical and spiritual experts. Dating back to the 1300s, surgeons used laughter to distract patients in pain. From the slight giggle to a belly chuckle,...

B-complex Vitamins

All have heard of B-12 but ALL Bs are important.  It is recommended that everyone take a B-complex vitamin to supplement the poor choices and quality of food in this country.  A deficiency of B vitamins is most commonly caused by food deficiencies but also...

Probiotics

Probiotics are made of good live bacteria and/or yeasts that naturally live in your gut. You constantly have both good and bad bacteria in your body. This balance of good and bad can be altered because of sickness, antibiotics, high sugar diet, uncontrolled diabetes,...