STRONGLife Functional Medicine

03/08/2024

Sleep apnea linked to cognitive dysfunction and memory issues

A new study found that sleep apnea is linked to poor memory and cognitive issues. This shouldn’t come as a surprise; sleep apnea reduces the amount of oxygen available to the brain and other tissues in the body.

Sleep apnea affects almost 10% of women and 25% of adults in the U.S. and up to 60% of people over 65.

Some of the most common signs of sleep apnea are loud snoring, breathing pauses (or gasping for air) during sleep, daytime sleepiness, morning headaches, and dry mouth upon awakening.

If you have any of these symptoms, it’s important to be tested immediately. Several validated devices can now be used to test for sleep apnea at home (without visiting a sleep clinic). Treating sleep apnea when present can be a game changer, as it’s associated with everything from diabetes to heart problems to cognitive disorders.

Grow your career and enhance your membership experience. Find resources for wellness, equity, diversity, inclusion, anti-racism, and social justice.

05/11/2023

Sometimes people with Hashimoto's think if they remove gluten that everything will improve. For some people, that does, but for most, it does not.

Many triggers can flare up Hashimoto's. You can be sensitive to dairy. Gluten and dairy have similar proteins, so when exposed to dairy, its cross-reactivity with gluten can flare up your immune system. You be sensitive to other foods besides gluten. Many people with autoimmunity are sensitive to all grains.
Other common food sensitivities in people with Hashimoto’s include egg, soy, and corn.

Chemicals can be triggers, or lifestyle stress. Each person has to find their unique triggers, which can be complicated in some cases.

From Episode #20 of Hashimoto's and Hypothyroidism Q&A -- Part 1, Solving the Puzzle with Dr. Datis Kharrazian, Nov. 17, 2021.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/hashimotos-and-hypothyroidism-q-a-part-1/id1574753132?i=1000542185887

Check out the course, Hashimoto’s: Solving the Puzzle at drknews.com, or the thyroid book that revolutionized our understanding of Hashimoto’s: Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms? by Datis Kharrazian on Amazon.

03/29/2023

Background & Objective: Low bone mineral density and dementia commonly co-occur in the elderly, with bone loss accelerating in dementia patients due to physical inactivity and poor nutrition. However, uncertainty persists over the extent to which bone loss already exists prior to the onset of dement...

03/20/2023

Have you checked your vitamin D levels lately?

Optimal levels are between 45-80 ng/ml

For years I’ve been writing about the important role of vitamin D as it relates to general health and brain health in specific. And with good reason. The medical research …

03/16/2023

Learn about foods that have been shown to improve mood-- to make people feel better and happier.

03/01/2023

While lifestyle choices like sleep and exercise are incredibly important, they won’t be able to offset a poor diet loaded with sugar and processed foods.

If you only have the chance to do one thing differently today, make it a change in the food you eat. Every meal, every snack, every visit to the fridge is a chance to do things differently.

10/21/2022

If you want to keep your heart healthy, add a good night’s rest to your to-do list, a new study says.

10/14/2022

Acne takes a big toll, but many treatments have unwanted side effects. More natural options can promote skin health and general health too.

10/10/2022

A new study found that coffee drinkers enjoy a longer life span and fewer cardiovascular events than people who don’t drink coffee.
The caveat is that this was an observational study and only shows a correlation between coffee consumption and better outcomes.

It’s possible that coffee drinkers share a different behavior or factor (other than coffee) that contributed to their longevity and cardiovascular health. But it’s also at least possible that coffee itself was responsible. It contains more than 100 biologically active components that could contribute to longevity.

I love coffee, and I think it can be a healthy part of our daily routine—as long as it doesn’t interfere with sleep.

AbstractAims. Epidemiological studies report the beneficial effects of habitual coffee consumption on incident arrhythmia, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and mor

10/05/2022

Unfortunately, going gluten-free alone may not be enough to manage declining brain function, autoimmunity, or inflammation. This is because proteins in other foods can cross-react with gluten.

Cross-reactivity means the proteins in certain foods are similar enough to those in gluten to trigger a reaction. Foods known to commonly cross-react with gluten include casein (the dairy protein), yeast, oats, sesame, and some brands of instant coffee.

The food that most commonly cross-reacts with gluten is casein. This is not to be confused with a lactose intolerance. Lactose is the sugar portion of milk whereas casein is the protein. Lactose intolerance is a condition in which some people lack the enzymes to digest milk sugars. It is not the same as an immune response to casein.

Other grains, seeds, and other foods may also cross-react with gluten.

Cyrex Labs offers a panel that checks for the foods that most commonly cross-react with gluten. It also screens for common sensitivities to other grains and non-gluten foods and is called the Gluten-Associated Sensitivity and Cross Reactive Foods Array 4.

👉 👉 👉 Gluten and the Brain: Free 30-page guide and video – link in bio

https://lp.drknews.com/gluten-and-the-brain-optin

10/03/2022

Conclusion

"The observed association between 25(OH)D and CRP is likely to be caused by vitamin D deficiency. Correction of low vitamin D status may reduce chronic inflammation."

Chronic inflammation is associated with increased risk of all chronic disease including: Diabetes, Heart Disease, Cancer, Alzheimer's, Dementia, and Parkinson's.

Over 95% of the population is vitamin D deficient. The optimal blood levels for vitamin D are between 45-60 ng/ml.

Supplementing with vitamin D is the easiest way to optimize your levels.

AbstractBackground. Low vitamin D status is often associated with systemic low-grade inflammation as reflected by elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. We i