The past twenty-two months have profoundly affected all of us. Worries about Covid-19 and its impact on our health and jobs, social distancing and masking can all be overwhelming and stress, anxiety, depression and insomnia have become epidemic. So, what strategies can we put into place to benefit our mental health and resilience? Resilience is…

Do oranges and other citrus fruits trigger rheumatoid arthritis (RA) flares? The citric acid in these winter fruits has been anecdotally identified as an RA trigger, however, there’s no reliable evidence that eliminating oranges from your menu will improve your RA symptoms. Doing so will only deprive you of vitamin C, which is necessary for…

Beverages: You Are What You Drink! Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a whole-body inflammatory syndrome that targets the lining of synovial joints. It can affect multiple organ systems, and by the time we diagnose the joint swelling and pain as rheumatoid arthritis, we have identified the end-organ damage of an immunological process that may have started…

More than 2000 years ago, Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, quipped that all disease begins in the gut.  Recent studies suggest that many chronic disorders including obesity, depression, metabolic syndrome, and rheumatoid arthritis may be triggered by unfavorable changes to the gut microbiome. So…it sounds like he was right! We Are Not Alone… A…

Should you Avoid Wheat? Two percent of the population has celiac disease, a genetic, intestinal autoimmune disease. These individuals should absolutely avoid gluten to avoid a myriad of problems including lymphoma. Another 6% of the population is intolerant to wheat-containing foods, experiencing digestive symptoms, joint pain, rashes, headaches, and mental disorders after eating these products….

Think about Meditating for a Few Minutes Every Day Meditation practices are personal, and can be elusive to define. Though there are many types of meditation (focused breathing, yoga, or fixing the mind on a particular thought-to name just a few), all train the mind to stay in the present moment, and develop an awareness…

Scientists have discovered that human health is strongly influenced by the millions of microbes that live within our intestinal tract, collectively known as the gut microbiome. Syndromes ranging from mental health disorders to chronic inflammation and chronic disease have been attributed to changes in this system. What Does a Healthy Microbiome Look Like: A healthy…

Air pollution consists of toxic chemicals in the air that put health at risk. Air pollution can be of natural causes-like wildfires.  But more commonly, it results from human activity such as the burning of fossil fuels.  It can include gases ( carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone) as well as heavy metals and…