Colostrum is something that many people are totally or partially unaware of. If you have heard of it, it may have only been because you or someone you know had a child and had to deal with lactation. Colostrum is the first yellowish fluid produced after childbirth. It is pure for about the first four days of lactation, and then it is slowly replaced by milk over several weeks. The early milk that still contains some colostrum is called transitional milk. All lactating mammals produce colostrum. Research has proven that pure colostrum promotes growth and health in all newborn mammals, including humans.

Bovine (from cows) colostrum is consumed by some traditional cultures and is becoming more popular as a supplement for its supposed health benefits. This post will cover what it is, what it does for newborn babies, and its use for adults.

Cannabis Smoking and the Mouth

Cannabis smoking has become much more common (and acceptable) in recent years. Recreational marijuana is legal in twenty states, and medical marijuana is legal in thirty-six. According to the CDC, 18 percent of Americans used marijuana in 2019. 1 It is estimated that about 90 % of users smoke it. 2 Smoking may negatively affect the mouth, teeth, and gums. Negative effects include periodontitis (gum disease), caries (tooth decay), xerostomia (dry mouth), a decreased salivary pH (increased acidity), and an increase in the density of Candida albicans (yeast infection, thrush). 3 This post will only discuss dental problems associated with the legal smoking of marijuana by adults; I will not touch upon other routes of ingestion of marijuana or its effects on any other part of the body other than the mouth.

The Science of Resistance Training

The health benefits associated with resistance training are not under debate and include decreased gastrointestinal transit time, reduced risk of colon cancer, increased resting metabolic rate, improved glucose metabolism, improved blood-lipid profiles, reduced resting blood pressure, improved bone mineral density, pain, and discomfort reduction for those suffering from arthritis, decreased lower back pain, enhanced flexibility, and improved aerobic capacity. What has been under debate is how to do it best. 1 The American College of Sports Medicine, long considered the expert in resistance training, has dispensed poor advice over the years, largely unsupported by rigorous science.

In 2011, researchers used existing studies that employed rigorous science to more fully understand how we should work out. They included intensity, the number of repetitions, the length of training sessions, the volume of work, whether core exercises were as important as we think, the speed of repetitions, rest time between sets, and whether free weights are better than machines. Their findings might surprise you.

The Five Most Common Micronutrient Deficiencies and How to Avoid Them

Micronutrients are the smaller building blocks, such as minerals and vitamins, we need to sustain life and have optimal function. Micronutrient deficiencies (MNDs) are quite common worldwide. Iron, iodine, folate, vitamin A, and zinc deficiencies are the most common MNDs. They are responsible for perinatal complications, poor growth in children, and increased mortality and morbidity. 1 They can be just as devastating to adults. This post will describe the deficiencies, their symptoms, and how to correct them.

Earthing: The Simplest Health Booster Available

All animals, including humans, evolved to contact the Earth. We mostly walked barefoot or with footwear made of animal skins and slept on the ground or skins. Humans routinely do not touch the Earth anymore due to shoes with synthetic soles, modern homes, and beds. Insulating ourselves from contact with the Earth has had negative health consequences that few are aware of, including health care providers. Have you ever noticed that you feel better after a barefoot day at the pool or beach? It isn't just the sun and fresh air that is responsible. The contact with the Earth is too. This post will cover the numerous health benefits of routinely contacting the Earth's surface, a practice called Earthing or grounding.

Beware of Dentures

It may surprise you, but I would not wish a denture on my worst enemy. This may seem hyperbolic, but it is accurate-I wish good health over less-than-perfect treatment for everyone. I make them, but I warn patients that as much as they can replace teeth and improve appearances and chewing, they have many pitfalls. I warn patients that they may appreciate appearing as if they have all of their teeth, but there will be a host of problems with them. In short, the best dentures in the world will still have numerous problems; they may marginally function as natural teeth. This post covers the good, bad, and ugly of dentures.

The Incredible Human Part Five: Toothpick Use

Welcome to part five. The use of toothpicks is uniquely human. The famous dental anthropologist Peter Unger discovered tiny striations in teeth that could not be caused by chewing. He concluded that the marks could only have been caused by the overuse of toothpicks made of hard materials like bone. He also drew a parallel between tool use and the introduction of meat to humans' diets. Ungar said toothpick use is one of the first lines of evidence from the hominid fossil record that shows our genus consuming significant amounts of meat in the ancient past. Tooth picking likely served to remove food, especially meat, but it caused visible damage. To quote him, "Teeth are not well designed for eating meat, so our early ancestors had to use toothpicks." This post will cover the evidence and discuss the proper use of toothpicks.

Our Fat Cells Think We Are Carnivores!

The carnivore diet is based on eating animal-based foods as much as possible. In some of my previous posts, I have listed supporting evidence that we tolerate animal-based foods well. Our highly acidic stomachs, longer small intestines, and lack of a cecum are a few patterns we share with carnivorous-leaning mammals. Additionally, fat cells have two patterns: one indicating herbivory and one carnivory. It turns out that humans have the carnivorous pattern.

The Downside of Bedrest (PS. I love You Dad)

My father had been hospitalized several times recently and lost significant leg strength. Lately, he was put on hospice due to heart failure, and his legs ceased to be of any use after about two weeks. After living a great life, he sadly passed on March first, 2023, at 93, three days before his 94th birthday. He had a massive heart attack when he was about 52. His heart was so damaged they gave him poor odds of survival. They told him he would die young, even if he survived the next few weeks. They told him not to exert himself. He complied initially but then started lifting weights and walking. He regained his youthful vitality, which kept him alive for the next 42 years. One of his last lessons was about being confined to bed and its many downsides, even if it is sometimes unavoidable. This post is dedicated to him.

Diet, Functional Medicine, General Health, MovementScott Solomons, DDSMarch 6, 2023Bedrest, Sedentary, Sarcopenia, metabolism, DiabetesComment

Moderation Versus Optimization

As part of patient care, I have conversations about the introduction of processed grains to our diets about 10,000 years ago and all the detrimental effects that came with it; tooth decay, gum disease, stunted growth, etc. I also discuss the introduction of industrially processed seed oils like corn, canola, and soy and their connection to heart disease, diabetes, obesity, inflammation, and more. A frequent response I hear is the phrase, "everything in moderation." I am unsure what they mean, and I wonder if they do either. I believe seeking moderation has risks. I suggest optimizing as a better approach to health. This post will cover the difference between the two and seven things we should optimize for health.

How Poor Dietary Advice Failed My Father

My father is almost 94. When he was in his early 50s, he had a massive heart attack and has had heart problems since that time, including heart failure. Sadly, he followed all of the advice to avoid heart attacks but still had a few. I will explain some of the reasons in this post.

Telluride Pediatric Conference PowerPoint Presentation

This post contains the slides for my presentation at The Southwestern Society of Pediatric Dentistry. It is intended for the attendees, but all are welcome to view it and share it. Enjoy.

Is Obesity a Genetically Induced Brain Disease?

You may have heard that a piece on the TV program called 60 Minutes recently sparked some controversy. A doctor stated that obesity is a brain disease, and the largest contributor to obesity is genetics. To quote her, "That means if you were born to parents that have obesity, you have a 50-85% likelihood of having the disease yourself even with optimal diet, exercise, sleep management, [and] stress management..." She tells us that lifestyle won't make a difference for genetically flawed people.

The 60 Minutes Program then segues into the new weight-reducing medications, stressing how effective they are, potentially leaving the audience with four takeaways: 1) Obesity is a brain disease. 2) Obesity is genetic 3) Lifestyle changes won't work for the genetically flawed. and 4) Drugs are better than lifestyle changes, especially for the genetically flawed. This post will address these issues and more.

The Ice Age and How it Shaped Human Evolution

Evolution takes place because we successfully adapt to changes in our environments over vast amounts of time, leading to the false belief that evolution occurs only when the environmental change is stable over time so that the adaptive changes can take hold and the species can flourish. After all, if the adaptative pressure goes in one direction and then reverses course, the adaptive changes might never happen or become maladaptive and cause extinction. But the climatic record during human evolution has been extremely variable, especially in the recent past, so it does not support the idea that environmental stability produced our adaptation. This post will discuss the accepted definition of ice ages, glaciations, interglacials, and their effect on human evolution.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Why Sucking Air Sucks

Poor sleep is often caused by poor breathing, which, in turn, is often caused by poor jaw development. In 2016, the American Heart Association released a "scientific statement" on the connection between poor sleep and heart disease; you can find it here. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine states that severe sleep apnea doubles one's chance of dying from heart disease. I have spoken at length about the connection between facial development and obstructive sleep apnea before. In my post today, I am going to focus on the pressure changes to the body that sleep apnea causes and their consequences.

Hooray For Airway Palooza!

People with properly developed faces will always have straight teeth, room for wisdom teeth, and superior beauty. Sadly, most of us have some level of crowding and lack of jaw space for wisdom teeth today, meaning almost all of us to have deficient jaws. Since most of us have underdeveloped faces, this epidemic has gone primarily unnoticed by us, including most physicians and dentists. This needs to change because it is one of the major contributing factors to many, if not most, of our modern health problems; most of which originate in poor breathing from small airways.

I am writing this post as I fly back home from an amazing conference called Airway Palooza. I want to share some pearls of wisdom that can help you recognize if you have an airway problem and ways it can be addressed.

Raw Egg Yolks: One of My Favorite Meals

I have been on the carnivore diet for almost three years. From the start, raw eggs have been a big part of my diet. My go-to recipe is one dozen yolks mixed with bone broth. It fits in a tall glass that I drink down each morning. Another way I consume my raw egg yolks is to mix them with water and honey. If this sounds strange, this post will clarify why I consider it an important part of my diet.

In 1990, Bruce Ames, Margie Profet, and Lois Swirsky Gold found that Americans consume an average of 1.5 grams of natural pesticides produced by plants themselves daily. They noted that 52 of them had been analyzed in animal cancer tests, in which rodents are fed exorbitantly high doses to see if they developed tumors. 27 were found to be carcinogens! To repeat, I am speaking exclusively about the natural chemicals plants produce to avoid being eaten, not sprayed-on synthetic pesticides. Should we be concerned?

My Interview on Carnivore Cast

A few weeks ago, I was interviewed on The Carnivore Cast, which is a podcast focused on the carnivore diet and lifestyle with practical advice from successful carnivores, citizen scientists, and top researchers answering your burning questions and meaty topics. The episode is now out. On it, we talk about my previous health problems, how I got into Paleo, functional medicine and dentistry, and finally, the carnivore diet. I also talk about why we don’t really need toothpaste and why we all have crooked teeth.

The site is the brainchild of Scott Myslinski, a really cool guy promoting optimal health through proper movement and, of course, the carnivore diet. He has tons of really good podcast guests, so check them out. Enjoy!

Panel Presentation: Why the Long Face? How the Modern World Changed Our Faces, Metabolism, and Breathing-and How to Fix it

On August 19th, I was fortunate to participate in an expert panel discussing how the modern world is distorting our faces, breathing, and metabolism. The panel was moderated by the incomparable author and speaker James Nestor who wrote the New York Times best seller Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. We were allowed a few minutes to present our area of expertise. First up was Siobhán Cooke, followed by Kevin Boyd, me, Robert Lustig, then Mike Mew. We discussed some of the causes, then discussed some fixes. Here is the presentation. Please like and share it so we can help stop our faces from distorting and improve our breathing and metabolism.