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Fork U(niversity) Not everything you put in your mouth is good for you. There’s a lot of medical information thrown around out there. How are you to know what information you can trust, and what’s just plain old quackery? You can’t rely on your own “google fu”. You can’t count on quality medical advice from Facebook. You need a doctor in your corner. On each episode of Your Doctor’s Orders, Dr. Terry Simpson will cut through the clutter and noise that always seems to follow the latest medica ...
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From Starving to Stuffed: The Evolution of Obesity in America The rise of ultra-processed foods in the United States closely parallels the surge in obesity rates and increased caloric intake observed from the 1980s onward. Starting in the 1970s, shifts in food production and consumer habits paved the way for these foods to become dietary staples, u…
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In recent years, GLP-1 agonists have gained significant attention as effective treatments for obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, emerging research suggests these medications may also influence brain function and behaviors related to reward and addiction. In this article, we’ll explore how GLP-1 agonists work, where they act in the brain, and how…
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Apolipoprotein B (apoB) is the causative agent in atherosclerosis. If your apoB is low, you will not develop atherosclerosis. However, if your apoB is high, you could die young. We know this because of genetic studies of people with different levels of apoB and their health outcomes. What is Atherosclerosis of the heart? Atherosclerosis is a progre…
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The Cyclical Nature of Autoimmune Diseases: A Huckster's Playground Autoimmune diseases are notoriously difficult to manage because they don’t follow a linear progression. Patients often experience periods of remission, where symptoms lessen or disappear, followed by flare-ups, where symptoms return, sometimes worse than before. This cyclical natur…
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Should I eat bread? The low carbohydrate movement has demonized bread. But is bread fattening? Does it cause inflammation? And if so, why do we call bread the Staff of Life? The Staff of Life Imagine calling white bread the staff of life. And yet bread is more responsible for humans ending a nomadic existence. The cultivation of wheat and barley, b…
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Seed Oils: Toxic or Not? Today, the low-carb/carnivore community has a new enemy. It is seed oils. Here is their argument: There were no seed oils in ancient lands Seed oils are highly inflammatory Seed oils are extracted with hexane, a cancer-causing agent The rise of seed oils correlates with the rise of obesity Seed oils are high in omega-6 fatt…
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Ancestral Diets and Logical Fallacies There is an appeal to ancient history: the idea that ancient beings were either "designed"—as from a creator—or "evolved" to eat in a certain way. Both are logical fallacies, but both are meant to be the "ex-cathedra" in a debate. You read these logical fallacies in communities that claim they understand this. …
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Rice and Fruit or Carnivore The rice diet successfully treated malignant hypertension. Today, we have medications that treat malignant hypertension. Before the 1940s, there were no drugs available to treat this disease, resulting in death from untreated malignant hypertension within six months. Despite the best medical care available, President Fra…
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The Benefits of Whole Grains in Your Diet I want to take you back in time. While we talk about the Mediterranean diet not being a diet of culture but a pattern of eating – it still had its origins in the Mediterranean. The original Mediterranean diet was described as far back as 500 BC in the Ilead. The ancient Greeks ate whole grains, fruits, vege…
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Learn to Cook Fish Fish is not only a healthy option but also a versatile ingredient that can be transformed into a myriad of mouthwatering dishes. Whether you're a seafood aficionado or looking to expand your culinary repertoire, mastering the art of cooking fish can elevate your cooking skills to new heights. In this article, we'll explore the te…
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Health Benefits of Fish Consumption Fish consumption has been linked to various health benefits due to its rich nutritional profile. The health benefits of fish consumption include cardiovascular health, brain function, and well-being. Because fish are a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients, they are an import…
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Three Great Diets The Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), and the MIND diet (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) are all great eating patterns. Each diet focuses on different aspects of health. Mediterranean Diet The Mediterranean diet comes from the traditional dietary patterns of c…
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Abstract: The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is a widely recognized dietary pattern designed to lower blood pressure and promote cardiovascular health. I will attempt to provide an in-depth review of the DASH diet, its origins, key principles, health benefits, and potential limitations. It also explores the scientific evidence …
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Did You Try the Carnivore Diet? Did you try the carnivore in January? A month of red meat, eggs, and butter? If you did, you probably lost weight. If you lost weight, you felt better. The Carnivore crowd will point to weight loss as proof of superiority. But did you worry that this might not be the healthiest diet for you long-term? Is it healthy? …
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Sorry It Didn't Work This is the time of year when everyone is excited about some change in their life. My neighbors are doing a "dry January" because they want to cut down on their alcohol. Other neighbors committed to more physical activity before a hip replacement. And there is the inevitable "what diet will I do this time?" Now, before I go to …
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The Scams and Quacks of the Year The New Year, the point we all look for a second chance. To get healthy, lose weight, adopt a new habit. And waiting for you are the hucksters who want to sell you hydrogen in your water, expensive supplements of dubious value, and some choices that might actually harm you. If it sounds too good to be true, you migh…
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Canola Oil is Healthy and Inexpensive Did you ever notice there are those people who will tell you how everything is bad for you? Don't eat this and don't eat that? They make grand assertions about the modern food system. Often claiming we should return to the age of the caveman. Assuming that health will return when we eat what our ancestors ate. …
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Nuts and Seeds, or Supplements People who count calories notice nuts contain about 200 calories per ounce. Nuts are calorie-dense. However, nuts are also nutrient-dense. Moreover, nuts provide fiber, healthy oils, and essential minerals. Nuts have been shown to decrease sudden cardiac death, decrease cholesterol, and provide satiety that helps peop…
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We Love Legumes The legume is a powerhouse plant protein. The beautiful bean. Often the source of protein for vegetarians and vegans, and forgotten about in most modern diets today. Thus, we will campaign to bring back the legume. In today's gym, you will find people selling protein powders, advocating all meat diets, and flexing their muscles. But…
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Turmeric: It can kill you Turmeric is from the root of a flowering plant (Curcuma longa of the ginger family Zingiberaceae), known for being anti-inflammatory. Because of its anti-inflammatory nature, turmeric is one of the most common supplements I am asked about during my TikTok live sessions. This is because people like a "natural" anti-inflamma…
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Ozempic, Wegovy, Monjaro, and a host of other drugs – the GLP-1 agonists and near miracles weight loss drugs, and soon a more potent pill form coming. These drugs have known side effects, and there have been increased visits to the emergency rooms. Often because people were not told foods to avoid. As with any new drug, there are the grifters. Afte…
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Seed Oils, Omega 6, and Inflammation Just about everyone in the low-carb community is talking about how bad seed oils are. They claim the medical community has it wrong. The conspiracy-minded folks claim doctors want to keep people sick. Thus dependent on medicine for pills and surgery. Hence, seed oils are the new evil part of the picture. The New…
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Implementing the Mediterranean Diet: Vegetables The increase of vegetables in the diet is one way to reduce inflammation. Vegetables are an important part of the Mediterranean diet, providing essential nutrients. A diet rich in vegetables that contain antioxidants. As a result, the Med diet reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer, dementia, and a…
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Do You Need A Liver Cleanse? Fatty liver disease is the most common reason for liver transplantation. Fatty liver disease replaced alcoholic liver disease a decade ago. The rise of obesity has contributed to fatty liver disease, and fat, like alcohol, is deadly to your liver. So can you clean out your liver? Simple answer - no. But that doesn't sto…
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Erythritol and Heart Attacks: Is It Hype? Does the artificial sweetener erythritol increase the risk of heart attacks? In fact, some say that this is just hype. The article abstract can be found here. Erythritol is an artificial sweetener It has been used for years in food as a "non-nutritive sweetener." Erythritol is used in many processed foods, …
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Don't Fear the Fruit, Enjoy It Are you afraid that eating fruit will cause your blood sugar to spike? Let us bust that myth right now. Only ten percent of adults eat enough whole fruit daily despite the clear benefits of fruit. Eating fruit and Living Longer My 98-year-old dad eats fruit with breakfast for as long as I have known him. We would have…
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Salt: Toxicity is in the Dose For the human body, salt is both an essential metal and toxic at a high dose. The most common form of sodium comes from sodium chloride, a salt. However, too much salt and arteries become stiff, and the risk of heart disease and cardiovascular disease increases. The majority of dietary salt comes from processed foods. …
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Why you should ditch your gas stove Did you ever wonder what the controversy is about gas stoves? There is no controversy. Gas range tops are responsible for high levels of indoor pollution. But what should we do? The answer, change to an induction cooking top Types of Indoor Cooking You can imagine the first time cooking was brought indoors. Proba…
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Whole Grains Reduce Obesity While the low-carb world and its extremists will tell you that grains are evil, they are wrong. There is a significant difference between refined and whole grains. The difference Whole grains contain the bran, a fiber-rich outer sheath. Further whole gains have the germ cell and the endosperm. But the refined grain is ju…
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Are Vegetables BS? If you have ever seen Paul Saldino, his famous line is that Kale is BS. He even sells the shirt. But are they? Saldino isn't the only one who proposes this. Dr. Gundry, a former heart surgeon, has his own take. Gundry claims modern health problems come from eating lectins. Lectins are compounds found in beans that are natural pes…
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The term vitamin was coined by the chemist Casimir Funk as he revealed the Thiamine structure to the world. So while you may think – isn’t vitamin A (it is the alphabet) the first vitamin – we take our poetic license here to point out that the first compound to be called a vitamin was Thiamine, now known as vitamin B1. But the story of that vitamin…
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The Green Mediterranean Diet Imagine being able to improve the Mediterranean Diet with a few changes. Is the new "Green" Mediterranean Diet the ultimate hack? The Green Mediterranean Diet (Green-Med) has become the hottest version of the MED diet yet. Advantages of the Green Mediterranean Diet There are three advantages to Green-Med Less Fatty Live…
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LiverKing Falls From Grace Not that anyone was surprised the so-called Liverking was using steroids. But he fooled many people that his diet and intense training led to this frame. The diet he recommended was some form of an "ancestral" diet. We have covered the carnivore-type diet before. So how did this all happen? The Rise of LiverKing LiverKing…
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Leaky Gut: Facts and Fads The latest fad of supplement makers is to talk about "gut health." The latest boogyman for the gut is the "leaky gut." The other name for leaky gut is intestinal permeability. A Surgeon's View As a surgeon, a "leaky gut" is a devastating surgical emergency. Surgeons emergently operate to remove the gut that no longer has a…
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The Beer and Sausage Diet There are a lot of crazy diets out there. All of them you can lose weight with. Weight loss has many advantages. But the beer and sausage diet was fun. Here is what we learned: A calorie is just a calorie Being in calorie deficit is difficult Meticulous journaling is important Your lab values will improve with weight loss …
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Losing Weight With Apps Can a phone app help you lose weight? How about with your cholesterol, blood pressure, or waist size? Perhaps you've heard the latest Noom ads, where they boast forty publications showing that their app will help you lose weight. Apple is coming out with more ways to have their new watch track your heart rate and steps, with…
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Decreasing cholesterol: drugs and diet There is a persistent belief that lifestyle can take care of all cholesterol problems. Lifestyle can make things worse, but once things are worse, it cannot make things better. Once you have disease, or cholesterol is higher, you need treatment often beyond lifestyle management. This distresses many people, wh…
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Alcohol and the Mediterranean Diet Alcohol consumption is controversial. No one disputes that excess alcohol consumption leads to dire consequences. But what about moderate alcohol consumption? Can we define moderate alcohol consumption? Is there a safe and therapeutic level of alcohol consumption? Alcohol is a component of the Mediterranean Diet. …
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Mediterranean Diet after weight loss surgery Success after weight loss surgery doesn't end with an operation. It just gets started. The most recalcitrant people to diets are those who undergo weight loss surgery. Weight loss surgery patients were on multiple diets prior to surgical intervention. The Mediterranean Diet is the best post-operative die…
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Implementing the Med Diet - Part One Do you think you eat enough plants in your diet? How many plants do you eat in a week? Not refined grains, but plants. You can cook them, boil, bake, microwave, roast them or even eat them raw. How many? Further, it's not just eating more volume of plants, it's diversity. Mediterranean Diet and Plants Adherence …
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Mediterranean Diet - Fats Perhaps the most important part of the Mediterranean Diet is this plant. Olive oil is the single ingredient most associated with the Mediterranean Diet. It is the one single food substitution you can do that will improve your health immediately and have great consequences. But not all olive oil is the same. Olive oil and y…
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Inflammation and the Mediterranean Diet The Mediterranean Diet is the most anti-inflammatory diet studied. The inflammatory response is the body's mechanism to fight infection, repair itself and rid itself of cancer. Inflammation is a coordinated response to trauma, infection, and cancer. Without inflammation, we would be dead within twenty-four ho…
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Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease. The Seven Country Cohort Study clearly showed this. But what about cancer? Does the Mediterranean Diet impact cancer or cancer prevention? To study this, another cohort study began called the EPIC study. Uniquely, the EPIC showed not only a decreased risk of cancer bu…
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Was Ancel Keys responsible for the modern epidemic of obesity? If you have read any low carb blog lately, you would think so. Their revisionist history is broken down to this: Ancel Keys was an influential scientist who thought fat was to blame for heart disease He did a study of diet and correlated fat and heart disease in those people of the seve…
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Scientists and dieticians consistently rank The Modern Mediterranean Diet (MED diet) as the diet most recommended. But often people don't know what the MED diet is. This post will define the Med diet. Critics of the Med Diet Critics argue that there is no uniform MED diet. They make these assertions based on one of these three arguments: That there…
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If you don’t have diabetes, should you even consider a blood glucose monitor? Well, here is the science behind this new tiktok trend and why these Continuous Blood Glucose Monitors (CGM) are here to stay and what we know about them. The device First, the device – a continuous blood glucose monitor is a device that you place on your body and it meas…
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About 15 years ago physician came to me telling me that she was opening a new venture, distributing plant-based bioidentical hormones, and surgically implanting those hormones as pellets. She wanted me to send her all of my patients who presented in menopause because "with bioidentical hormones they won't need weight loss surgery." She went on to s…
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The US Preventative Task Force updated their recent recommendations about vitamins and supplements in The Journal of the American Medical Association - reference here. Their conclusion was: "Conclusions and Relevance Vitamin and mineral supplementation was associated with little or no benefit in preventing cancer, cardiovascular disease, and death,…
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It turns out that the juice from beets may lower blood pressure in a sustained and lovely manner. Beets, you see, besides being a colorful vegetable, contain a high level of Nitrate (NO3-). And this is absorbed by the body and converted into nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is that amazing molecule that relaxes blood vessels and improves blood flow. How …
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Common Collagen Claims (taken from actual websites selling collagen supplements): “improves skin elasticity,” “support bone and joint health,” “strengthen hair, skin, and nails,” “may benefit the bodies cellular structure,” “support healthy skin, bone, and joints.” “will feed your skin health” “will improve nail appearance and strength” “lead to a …
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