Posted on: December 28, 2024 Posted by: Michele Lee Comments: 0

Ozempic and Wegovy associated with vision loss risk

Now that they’ve been on the market for several years, Ozempic — the injectable GLP-1 agonist drug for treating diabetes — and its lower-dose version, the weight loss “miracle” Wegovy — are practically household names.  But the active ingredient in both, semaglutide, hasn’t been without concerns, the least of which may be acid reflux, nausea and vomiting, acute pancreatitis and gallbladder disease — tied to the way the drug works…

Posted on: December 28, 2024 Posted by: Michele Lee Comments: 0

How to Stop Tracking Macros

“I worried that if I stopped tracking macros, I would lose my physique.” After years of careful macro tracking, Dr. Fundaro finally admitted to herself that the method no longer worked for her. Yet she was afraid to give it up. If anyone should feel confident in their food choices, it would be Dr. Gabrielle Fundaro. After all, Dr. Fundaro has a PhD in Human Nutrition, a decade-plus of nutrition…

Posted on: December 27, 2024 Posted by: Michele Lee Comments: 0

The occasional sweet treat may be healthier than none

One of the first posts I ever wrote here was all about how bad sugar is for your heart, and about the sneaky ways the sugar industry was trying to hide this. They still do. The fact is, if you’re getting more than 25 percent of your daily calories from sugar, you’re a heart attack waiting to happen. But more recent research is telling us that what really matters is…

Posted on: December 24, 2024 Posted by: Michele Lee Comments: 0

Biomarkers prove wine’s heart-supporting benefits

Whether or not drinking wine is good for your heart has been the focus of a mountain of research over the past decade — with confusing findings. While numerous studies have reported that consuming wine in moderation can reduce the risk of heart disease, almost as many have reported the opposite — that even small amounts of alcohol increase cardiovascular risks. That’s left us all in the uncomfortable position of…

Posted on: December 21, 2024 Posted by: Michele Lee Comments: 0

How your doctor’s sex impacts the care you recieve

When my elderly friend first started having digestive problems, she told her doctor about them. He dismissed them as “stress” and told her to work on ways of calming herself down. Two years went by. Despite adopting a regimen of yoga and meditation and switching to a gluten-free diet, her digestive problems got worse. She lost too much weight and could barely leave the house. So, she went to a…

Posted on: December 21, 2024 Posted by: Michele Lee Comments: 0

Your diet and the inflammatory risk of GI cancer

I’ve had two friends die of stomach cancer in the past five years. Both were barely past 50 years old. Sadly, they are not the exception. The number of people in their fifties and younger who are falling victim to gastrointestinal (GI) cancer, particularly bowel cancer, has increased dramatically over the past few decades. Two large studies, however, indicate simple changes can help any of us avoid becoming another statistic……

Posted on: December 20, 2024 Posted by: Michele Lee Comments: 0

Beer’s (and other) weird connection to rheumatoid arthritis

Autoimmune conditions or diseases are the result of an immune system gone haywire. Instead of your immune system engaging to protect you from a threat, it begins attacking the body, as if it can no longer differentiate between an invader, like a pathogen, or your body’s tissues or organs. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a painful autoimmune disease that attacks the joints.  People with RA experience joint stiffness, swelling and pain.…

Posted on: December 19, 2024 Posted by: Michele Lee Comments: 0

Dark chocolate dips diabetes and weight gain

I confess I have a sweet tooth, one that I try to manage by sticking with healthy treats like fruit. But once or twice a week I allow myself to have a serving (or two) of one of my favorite sweets — dark chocolate. One reason is that research has uncovered a host of health benefits related to dark chocolate— like reducing heart disease and stroke risks. It also lowers blood pressure,…

Posted on: December 19, 2024 Posted by: Michele Lee Comments: 0

Managing Mental and Emotional Health

Reviewed by Brian St. Pierre, MS, RD and Helen Kollias, PhD It’s like my thoughts were under a pile of garbage. On a Friday night, as my husband and I tried to figure out where to eat, a typical conversation would go like this: Me: Do you want to go to that restaurant? Him: What restaurant? Me: I can’t think of the name. We’ve eaten there before. It’s that place…

Posted on: December 18, 2024 Posted by: Michele Lee Comments: 0

Coffee: The healthy aging secret under our noses

Like many people, I start my day with a hot cup of antioxidant-rich coffee. It helps me warm up, wake up and get my engine revved for the day ahead. In fact, my husband jokes that without my coffee I wouldn’t be able to survive. As it turns out, his little joke might not be too far off the mark… That’s because a comprehensive review of coffee research has revealed…