While inflammation can be caused by a number of things, including diet and lifestyle choices, it's important to look at the gut as it houses two-thirds of our immune system. 

But what does that really mean and how does it affect inflammation?  I'll break it down:

• When there is less diversity of good bacteria in the gut, opportunistic bacteria (i.e., gram-negative bacteria) can proliferate.  This becomes problematic because they secrete a substance...

Have you ever been to the doctor and been told, “All your blood tests look normal, keep doing what you’re doing.”?   What they really mean is “Keep doing what you’re doing until your labs come back abnormal (i.e., out of range).  Then, we can help you.” 

You see, doctors are trained to look for disease when it reaches the clinical state (i.e., lab results are out of range). A lab’s reference range is considered by the medical...

Most of us don’t even realize how stressed our bodies are.

Our body gets accustomed to living in a chronically stressed state, and the negative health affects you may experience as a result are often blamed on “just getting older”.

It’s the constant, daily, low-grade stress just based on the circumstances of our life that’s causing us to not feel well. In fact, we now know that stress is the main underlying factor in the majority of lifestyle diseases today,...

Blood testing is one of the most important assessment tools within the Functional Nutrition framework and helps with the early identification of functional disorders and for disease prevention.  It's important to have regular bloodwork (i.e., at least annually) and to look at trends in your results over time.  

Blood testing gives a snapshot of where you are on the continuum from optimal health to full-blown disease.  It can be a useful tool that allows us to gain a...

As a Business Owner, you have a lot of stress. It’s nearly impossible to clock out. You push, and push, and then push some more.

You are not alone.

It seems by nature that I have always been a stressed-out person. I think most high-achieving business owners are.

We have high standards. We put that pressure on ourselves – not to mention the pressure put on us by our jobs, our families, and our culture.

Stress manifests in different ways. For me it’s short-temperedness. For...

I often say, “Test, don’t guess”.  Having objective markers to correlate with your symptoms is the fastest way to better manage your health.  It can also save you a lot of money taking unnecessary supplements, medications and lost time from work.

Blood testing is one of the most important assessment tools for the identification of functional disorders and for disease prevention.  It's particularly helpful to catch dysfunctions that are easy to correct if...

Fatigue is the most common complaint I hear – both from clients in my practice and from friends and family. They feel like their energy and focus disappear by the mid-afternoon and that they need stimulants (e.g., coffee, sugar, Red Bull, etc.) to keep going.

What bothers me most is that for some reason we act like it’s normal to be tired … that it’s just a side effect of being busy and having a full life. One unwanted side effect of being super tired...

Tightness, tension, spasm throughout the body.  These symptoms are often a sign of insufficient magnesium.   Magnesium functions as a “master” electrolyte in this case because it directly controls the pump that allows potassium to flow into the cell (where benefits can actually be experienced).  

Magnesium is a relatively safe supplement to explore but should be done cautiously in those with any degree of kidney dysfunction or disease and always in active...

Something I hear a lot from business owners is that they find it hard to put more time and effort into their business because of nagging symptoms.  They suffer from fatigue, digestive issues, brain fog, joint pain, poor sleep, allergies, etc.

While symptoms can be very disruptive in your life, they are not a disease.  In today’s society, we tend to be more focused on taming the symptom, but in doing so, we are not addressing the actual dysfunction in the body. It’s far...

This word “metabolism” is thrown around a lot these days.

You know that if yours is too slow you might gain weight. But what exactly does this all mean?

Well, technically, “metabolism” is the word to describe all of the biochemical reactions in your body. It’s how you take in nutrients and oxygen and use them to fuel everything you do.

Your body has an incredible ability to grow, heal, and generally stay alive. And without this amazing...