Even though pharmaceutical companies are pushing statins on the general population through physicians – and you may have been pressured to take statins by your doctor you can still “just say no”. First of all there is not much compelling evidence that statins actually reduce your chances of getting vascular disease. However, there is clear evidence that statins can reduce your cholesterol levels. So what statins are doing is treating a number, not reducing chances of a functional disease outcome. There is plenty of information out there about the cholesterol myth so I will not repeat it here. You can read it and decide for yourself. Of course, there are cases where statins are necessary but they are just a small percentage of the number of people that are treated with these potentially deleterious drugs. Read the rest of this entry

Living in the Northeast we are lucky to have one of the worlds healthiest fruits growing in our backyard. There have been a multitude of studies citing blueberries neuroprotective effect, not to mention its also a great fruit for diabetics because of its low glycemic index. Another study was just released showing blueberries neuroprotective effect against cognitive decline. Read the rest of this entry

Just as we should know our source of tilapia we also do need to know our source of salmon! In today’s Boston Globe there is an blog reporting on a story about banned anti-fungals and antibiotics in Chilean farm raised salmon.

As consumers before purchasing farm raised salmon always ask the source. Read the rest of this entry

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) seems to be an all too common complaint of so many people. The three typical ways IBS presents itself is: constipation dominant (IBS-C), diarrhea dominant (IBS-D) or alternating diarrhea and constipation (IBS). I’m going to generalize here, but Read the rest of this entry

There have been several studies over the past few years that suggest taking fish oil during pregnancy is a must. Any acupuncture or nutrition patient I see that is pregnant or thinking of getting pregnant I always suggest that they get a good fish oil supplement. Now another study was just released that began in 1990 with 533 pregnant women at week 30 who were assigned to 3 groups. Read the rest of this entry

A recent review study looked at fish oil supplementation as a primary prevention method of age related macular degeneration. (Age-related macular degeneration :An eye disease with its onset usually after age 60 that progressively destroys themacula , the central portion of the retina , impairing central vision.) Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) rarely causes blindness because only the center of vision is affected. However, injury to the macula in the center of the retina can impair the ability to see straight ahead clearly and sometimes make it difficult to read, drive, or perform other daily activities that require fine central vision. Read the rest of this entry