Have you ever been so nervous before giving a presentation that your stomach seemed to tie itself into knots? Or noticed that during a particularly stressful week, you suddenly weren’t hungry? Maybe you’ve experienced the opposite. Some people reach for comfort foods when life becomes overwhelming, while others feel nauseated at the thought of eating. […]
The Gut: Where Your Body Meets the Outside World If I asked you to picture your digestive system, what comes to mind? For most people, it’s probably something fairly straightforward. You eat breakfast, food travels to your stomach, nutrients are absorbed somewhere along the way, and whatever isn’t needed eventually leaves the body. It seems […]
We Live in a Culture That Celebrates Stress One of the most interesting things I’ve noticed over the years is that almost everyone understands the importance of exercise. Most people understand that muscles become stronger after they’re challenged. They know that a workout creates microscopic damage within muscle fibers, and that over the next day […]
Why Extraordinary Health Is Built Between Appointments If you’ve been following along with this month’s series, you may be expecting me to finally tell you which supplements I recommend for supporting the immune system. We’re almost there. But before we talk about what we can add, we have to talk about what the body needs […]
The Missing Half of the Story One of the things I spend the most time doing as a doctor has very little to do with laboratory testing, prescriptions, or treatment plans. I spend a surprising amount of time helping people trust their bodies again. Somewhere along the way, many of us were taught that symptoms […]
Vitamin C – Promotes various pathways of the immune system in it’s fight again bacteria, viruses, allergens, and pathogenic cells. Too much can cause loose stools and canker sores. Vitamin D – Modulates the innate and adaptive immune responses. Deficiencies are associated with higher levels of autoimmunity and increased risk of infection. Too much can […]
It may need to be balanced. Part 1: Understanding What Your Immune System Is Actually Trying to Do One of my favorite questions to ask a new patient is surprisingly simple. “When was the last time you were sick?” Most people expect me to begin with medications, surgeries, or family history. Those questions certainly matter, […]
Starting With the Foundations Over the past few weeks, we’ve talked about some of the less obvious ways our environment can influence our health. We’ve explored how wildfire smoke can affect the brain and cardiovascular system, how mold can quietly contribute to chronic symptoms, and how inflammation is influenced by far more than just the […]
The Night I Found a Mushroom Growing Through My Carpet There are certain moments in life that permanently change the way you think about something. For me, one of those moments happened in a condo I owned here in Colorado. I had always thought mold was mostly a problem in humid climates. Florida? Sure. Louisiana? […]
Wildfire Smoke Has Become a Colorado Health Issue One of the reasons so many people choose to live in Colorado is because we value being outdoors. We hike. We bike. We paddle board. We snowboard. We camp. We horseback ride. We spend as much time outside as possible because that’s one of the things that […]