The Medical Advisor

Food is medicine. Meaning that what you put in your body can affect you just like popping a pill can. Chronic inflammation is the low-level inflammation in your body that causes everything from heart disease to cancer to Alzheimer’s to arthritis. Hence, reducing that inflammation is a good thing for your health. Inflammation can be triggered by inflammatory foods, which are foods that contain elements your body perceives as foreign or threatening. You can avoid inflammatory foods and add more anti-inflammatory foods to your diet to help lower your risk of inflammation. Anti-Inflammatory Diet Researchers have identified certain foods that can help control inflammation. Many of them are found in the so-called Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes fish, vegetables and olive oil, among other staples. There’s a standardized research tool that’s updated regularly that allows anybody to see if they’re eating foods we know cause chronic inflammation. This is called the The  Dietary Inflamma...

Secondary bacterial infection of the lung (pneumonia) was extremely common in patients with COVID-19, affecting almost half the patients who required support from mechanical ventilation. By applying machine learning to medical record data, scientists at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine found that secondary bacterial pneumonia that does not resolve was a key driver of death in patients with COVID-19. It may even exceed death rates from the viral infection itself. The scientists also found evidence that COVID-19 does not cause a " cytokine storm ," so often believed to cause death. The study was published in the  Journal of Clinical Investigation . "Our study highlights the importance of preventing, looking for and aggressively treating secondary  bacterial pneumonia  in  critically ill patients  with severe pneumonia, including those with COVID-19," said senior author Dr. Benjamin Singer, an associate professor of medicine at Northwestern Unive...

Autophagy literally means "self-eating" and refers to your body's process of eliminating damaged cells by digesting them. It's an essential cleaning out process that encourages the proliferation of new, healthy cells, and is a foundational aspect of cellular rejuvenation and longevity. Autophagy also destroys foreign invaders such as viruses, bacteria and other pathogens, and detoxifies the cell of harmful materials. Autophagy slows down with age, and autophagy defects are known to contribute to a wide variety of diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The good news is there are a number of different ways to activate and increase this natural process, thereby preventing many health problems before they begin.  Autophagy Activation Is a Powerful Way to Treat Many Diseases Researchers are now also latching on to autophagy as a viable way to treat disease.(1) As explained in the 2012 paper, "Autophagy Modulation as a Potential Thera...

  Many people pursue weight loss and weight management in various ways. However, some methods may be more harmful than others. A recent study from North Carolina State University highlighted the negative interpersonal and psychological consequences associated with yo-yo dieting— or weight cycling. While study participants noted that they entered the yo-yo dieting cycle for different reasons, from weight-related social stigma to self-comparisons to celebrities and peers, many reported engaging in various weight loss strategies that resulted in initial weight loss but eventual regain. Researchers defined yo-yo dieting as the unintentional weight regain after dieting, an unhealthy cycle unfortunately prevalent in American culture. With so many fad diets and instant weight loss plans or drugs normalized among people, doctors don't recommend dieting unless medically necessary. Notably, the study emphasizes that unhealthy diet behaviors are typically unsustainable. Participants who rega...

Nutrient deficiencies are very common, even among people who believe they’re eating a balanced diet. In the U.S., 31% of the U.S. population was found to be at risk of at least one vitamin deficiency or anemia, increasing the risk of health problems over a lifetime.  Your body depends on essential nutrients for growth, development and health maintenance, and deficiencies in certain vitamins can impact your immunity, vision, wound healing, bone health and much more. Neurological damage is possible from lack of vitamin B12, for instance, while vitamin A deficiency can lead to night blindness. It’s also estimated that 1 in 3 Americans is deficient in at least 10 minerals, putting them at risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. 2  Even at a subclinical level, being deficient in vitamins and minerals can cause a range of symptoms, including: 3 Fatigue Irritability Aches and pains Decreased i...