The Wellness Place

08/02/2025

Are sunscreens safe?

There is now serious review on certain chemical approaches we have taken to block the sun.

A recent JAMA study shows that common chemical sunscreens (like oxybenzone, avobenzone, and octocrylene) are absorbed into the bloodstream at levels well above FDA safety thresholds—even after just one day of use.

This adds to 2019 research raising the same red flags: we urgently need to review the long-term safety of chemical sunscreens.

Safer sun strategies that build better relationships with the sun include:

Get morning sunlight (before 10 a.m.) for natural vitamin D and circadian health

Use mineral-based sunscreens (zinc oxide, titanium dioxide)—not absorbed into your system

Sunlight exposure is one of the fundamental pillars of human health.

Should we fear the sun?

03/13/2023

Does erythritol increase the risk of heart attack and early death?. Read more and find related Uncategorized articles from Chris Kresser.

02/01/2023

The pancreas relies on the acidity of foods coming from the stomach to trigger the release of digestive enzymes. However, many people have overly low stomach acid.⁠
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As a result, the pancreas is not sufficiently activated to release enzymes. The result is poor food digestion, which causes inflammation and damage throughout the digestive tract. ⁠
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What are the symptoms of low pancreatic enzymes? ⁠
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Difficulty digesting fibers and starches such as vegetables, fruits, beans, rice. Bloating within the first one to two hours after eating them. Possible pain and tenderness in the left side of your rib cage. ⁠
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Other factors can cause pancreatic enzyme deficiency, but this is a common one. ⁠
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Learn more in my course on gut health, “Gut Health: Solving the Puzzle — A top to bottom solution strategy”. (https://lp.drknews.com/gut-health/).⁠

09/29/2022

Is any mouth breathing ok?

It’s a survival reflex so it’s there to stop you from dying in emergency, but when it sneaks into your day to day life, it’s going to make you sick.

If you breathe through the mouth at night, you will likely snore, and have a higher chance of developing sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea causes blood pressure issues, heart disease, and is a known link to Alzheimers disease.

If you’re anxious a lot, breathing through the nose, slowly, is your fastest ticket to a calmer more resilient nervous system.

Mouth breathing reduces your tolerance to carbon dioxide. Sounds good? No carbon dioxide has many physiologic roles including the release of oxygen from the blood into cells.

Your brain has CO2 detectors all of the body monitoring CO2. If it’s not use to the rise during slow nasal breathing, it will panic and revert you to mouth breathing.

Reprogramming your unconscious ‘autonomic’ body to nasal breathing requires many things to fall in place.

Struggling? These could explain why:

Nasal / throat issues – if you have chronic blocked sinuses, deviated septum or adenoid issues, it’s going to be harder for you to breathe through the nose. See an ENT specialist, breathing is paramount!

Tongue Posture – When your tongue seals to the roof of the mouth it blocks mouth breathing. Problem is no one does it. Train the tongue to seal to the roof of the mouth.

Head and neck posture – if you have forward head posture, it’s likely you mouth breathe regularly. By closing the lips, supporting the spine straight and sealing the tongue to the roof of the mouth.

Sleep – if you wake up with a dry mouth, snore, toss and turn, go to the bathroom frequently you aren't breathing well. Simplest way to get started is to try mouth tape to seal the lips through the night.

If you feel like you can’t breathe through the nose, you need to start building tolerance in the nasal passage to air.

Here’s a quick exercise:
1) Take a deep slow breath into the diaphragm
2) Hold the breath when your lungs are full
3) Clip the nostrils with your finger-tips
4) Hold and time your result

Do you or a family member struggle with mouth breathing?

07/15/2022

Are you accessing your full breathing capabilities?

Your nasal sinuses, when functioning correctly, send a rich source of a tiny molecule called nitric oxide through the body.

There is a link between low NO levels and many diseases, Including:

- High blood pressure
- Heart disease
- Erectile Dysfunction
- Digestive tract issues such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Alzheimer’s dementia

In humans, nitric oxide (NO) is also generated within the blood vessels and regulates blood pressure, and prevents the formation of clots and also destroys potential toxins.⠀

Proper ventilation is essential for maintenance of sinus integrity, and blockage of the ostium blocks the flow to the sinuses.⠀
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Humming has been applied therapeutically for the treatment of chronic sinusitis. A case study of a patient who had been unable to nose breathe due to chronic sinusitis for a month was able to achieve a clear nose and breathe easily through his nose after 4 days of intensive humming (one hour the first day and 120 hums 4x per day). ⠀
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The authors hypothesized that the effect was due to the increase in nitric oxide produced by the humming.⠀
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A small 10 person study looked at nasal NO was measured during humming and quiet single-breath exhalations at a fixed flow rate. NO increased 15-fold during humming compared with quiet exhalation.⠀
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Humming exercises have been used in yoga for many thousands of years. To really experience the vibration of humming through the sinuses you can try this bee breath exercise while blocking the ears.
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1. Sit up straight in a quiet, well ventilated corner with your eyes closed. Keep a gentle smile on your face⠀
2. Place your index fingers on your ears. There is a cartilage between your cheek and ear. Place your index fingers on the cartilage⠀
3. Take a deep breath in and as you breathe out, gently press the cartilage. You can keep the cartilage pressed or press it in and out with your fingers, while making a loud humming sound like a bee⠀
4. You can also make a low-pitched sound but it is a good idea to make a high-pitched one for better results⠀
5. Breathe in again and continue the same pattern 3-4 times.⠀
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How did this exercise feel for you?

06/25/2022

What we put on our skin—the largest organ in our body—gets absorbed and travels through the bloodstream.

It’s a simple fact, yet so many of us don’t think twice about how the ingredients in our favorite skin care products, such as shampoo, sunscreen, lotion, and insect repellent, affect our health. Even small amounts of toxic ingredients in skin products can add up and contribute to endocrine disorders, heart disease, cancer, and a range of other illnesses.

You can heal many skin issues by balancing your hormones, changing your diet, optimizing your nutrient status and healing your gut.

The science behind creating great skin involves cultivating your soil to reset your system. Functional Medicine, which focuses on the underlying causes of disease, is the medicine of WHY, not WHAT.

Functional Medicine doctors are like soil farmers. We create a healthy soil, so pests can’t come and weeds can’t flourish. A healthy soil means disease can’t come. That becomes an inside-out rather than outside-in approach.

I handle skin issues like acne and psoriasis the same way I deal with other issues. I define the imbalance, address the causes first (usually diet and lifestyle) and then help the body repair and regain balance.

05/21/2022

Inadequate sleep, in terms of both quantity and quality, is a major problem for many of us. Not only does not sleeping well leave us feeling bad, it is also detrimental to our overall health. Poor sleep can lead to everything from mood swings to blood sugar and hormonal imbalances, weight gain, poor memory, and much more.

In a recent episode of The Doctor’s Farmacy, I talk with Dr. Andrew Huberman, Dr. Cindy Geyer, and Shawn Stevenson about how to create daily habits to support restful sleep, including how we can best honor our circadian rhythm.

You can listen to the full episode here: https://bit.ly/39FlrnH

05/03/2022

Introducing a green juice that doesn’t suck

04/27/2022

Imbalances in your hormones are triggered by bad food. ⁣⁣
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If you eat sugar, you’ll produce more insulin, more estrogen, and more testosterone. Any type of flour and sugar can lead to these imbalances. ⁣⁣
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Dairy and gluten are often triggers for inflammation and hormonal imbalances. ⁣⁣
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Xenobiotics or environmental chemicals like pesticides in our food can act like powerful hormone disruptors and trigger our own hormones to go out of balance.⁣⁣
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We know that sugar, caffeine, alcohol, stress, and lack of exercise all contribute to worse PMS and all hormonal imbalances – including menopause.⁣⁣
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After removing the bad stuff, you will want to replace it with good stuff. ⁣⁣
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Eat a whole, real, unprocessed, organic, mostly plant-based diet with organic or sustainably raised animal products. When you focus on this type of diet, you minimize intake of xenoestrogens, hormones, and antibiotics. Taking simple steps like choosing organic food and drinking filtered water can hugely impact hormone balance.⁣⁣
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Getting good quality sleep every night and exercising regularly can help balance your hormones. Along with supplementing with Omega-3, vitamin D3, B vitamins, magnesium, and probiotics.

04/07/2022

Olive oil is known for its health benefits, yet many experts say we shouldn't be cooking with it. Does cooking with olive oil stand up to the heat?

03/25/2022

Research suggests that GERD is caused by maldigestion of carbohydrates and bacterial overgrowth in the intestines. Keep reading to learn more!

03/21/2022