In today’s post, I will discuss how the mouth plays a significant role in the production of nitric oxide (NO) through a process called the enterosalivary cycle of nitrate. This process involves friendly nitrate-reducing bacteria in the oral cavity, predominantly on the tongue, which reduce dietary nitrate (NO3) from vegetables, meat, and drinking water to nitrite (NO2). The nitrite is then further reduced to NO, which helps regulate systemic blood pressure. This pathway highlights how important oral health is to cardiovascular health. But can mouthwash damage this process?
Read MoreDr. Matthew Budoff presented data on December 9, 2023, demonstrating that a subgroup of individuals with very high total cholesterol and LDL do not seem to develop heart disease. The subjects are known as "Lean Mass Hyper Responders." The group became notable during the rise in popularity of ketogenic diets. This post will cover what a ketogenic diet is, what a lean mass hyper responder is, the possible mechanism of why they seem to be immune to heart disease, and the study itself.
Read MoreA few years back, I wrote about the negative health consequences of visceral fat, which is the kind of fat that surrounds our organs. Too much of it is bad for our health. I spoke about several ways to measure it, but I want to concentrate on one very easy and free method called the waist-to-height ratio. It is a simple and free method you can do at home to determine your health risk. I will tell you why it is so important and tell you how to calculate yours. For the math-challenged, I have a link to an automatic calculator.
Read MoreIn December of 2020, Alisha Arora and some of her colleagues defined Coronaphobia as an excessive triggered response of fear of contracting the virus causing COVID-19, leading to accompanied extreme concern over physiological symptoms, significant stress about personal and occupational loss, increased reassurance, and safety-seeking behaviors, and avoidance of public places and situations, causing marked impairment in daily life functioning. In the paper, the author urges politicians and media personalities to refrain from scare tactics to minimize the condition. Additionally, recent events have resulted in a bombardment of virology, epidemiology, death statistics, immunology, PCR technology, public health policies, and more. Each subject is complex by itself; together these subjects intertwine in an endlessly confusing way. Our tendency to believe we have mastered a subject long before we have is called the Dunning Kruger effect. The combination of fear, the Dunning Kruger effect, and opportunists have created a dangerous situation that could lead to serious societal disunity and upheaval if we are not careful. This post will shed light on our current situation and offer some strategies to unite in a spirit of cooperation to fight the coronavirus madness.
Read MoreSleep is a significant component of health. Sleep disruption in adults leads to increased anxiety, pain, reduced quality of life, mood disorders, disturbances in thought processes, memory, and physical performance. Inadequate sleep impacts children and adolescents' psychosocial health, school, and sports performance, and risk-taking behaviors. In otherwise healthy individuals, long-term consequences of poor sleep include high blood pressure, cholesterol problems, heart disease, weight gain, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. One of the key ingredients to a good night’s sleep is the ability to lower our core body temperatures. This post will cover some of the science behind the sleep-temperature connection and talk about ways to help us cool down for optimal sleep.
Read MoreNow that the trees are all green where I live, I have found my hikes in the woods feel better. It turns out that there is robust science behind this phenomenon. The first people to recognize and study it were in Japan. It turns out, walking in the woods does far more than make you feel better; it measurably improves many aspects of your health. The Japanese researchers were so impressed with the findings that they coined a term called Shinrin-yoku to represent the joys of immersing ourselves in forests.
Read MoreBecause we don't move very much anymore, the concept of exercise seems much more plausible today. The idea of sitting at a computer desk all day and then spending an hour on a treadmill to make up for all that lack of activity makes total sense. Only, science says it doesn't really. Exercise, in fact, does not counteract the adverse effects of prolonged sitting. In other words, sitting too much is really bad for you. Today I talk about what you can do to avoid the pitfalls of being too sedentary.
Read Moream sure most of you have never heard of GGT. It is not your fault; it is not considered to be as important as a marker for disease as others, such as cholesterol by most medical practitioners. As you will find out today, it may be the single most important predictor of disease and mortality medicine has today.
Read MoreLow magnesium status is known as hypomagnesemia. Alzheimer’s disease, asthma, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), insulin resistance, type-2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cardiovascular disease (e.g., stroke), migraine headaches, and osteoporosis are all associated with low magnesium status. Over half of Americans are deficient in it. Today I am going to talk about all things magnesium, including its use in dentistry.
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