Desert Health contributor Amy Austin, RN, PsyD, LMFT has published a warm and educational children’s book based on real characters from her own life. The book tells the story of Shaina, a striking black poodle, and her best friend Chuckles, a llama. The unlikely pair were actual friends and Shaina, a beloved pet of Dr.… Read more »
Most of us are aware that Alzheimer’s disease is on the rise due to high blood sugars and excessive inflammation. These factors are also related to the rise in overweight, obesity and type 2 diabetes. Less well known is that the frequency of Parkinson’s disease is also on the rise and may be the… Read more »
When we eat is more important than what we eat. That is the claim of Satchin Panda, PhD, leading expert in circadian rhythm research. Dr. Panda is the founder of the Center for Circadian Biology at the Salk Institute and an adjunct professor at the University of California, San Diego. He has ample research to… Read more »
Following an anti-inflammatory diet can be confusing. Where do I start? What are the most inflammatory foods? How can I personalize such a diet for the food intolerances I have? Will Cole, DC, a functional medicine expert in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, simplifies this topic in his new book, The Inflammation Spectrum (Avery, 2019). Dr. Cole does… Read more »
In Germany, doctors must complete medical school and specialty training before they can become trained and certified in naturopathic medicine. Andreas Michalsen, MD, is professor of clinical complementary medicine in Berlin at the largest university hospital in Europe. He is board-certified in internal medicine, emergency medicine, nutritional medicine, and physical medicine and rehabilitation. He has… Read more »
Benjamin Franklin said that nothing in this world is certain except death and taxes. Since some people do not pay income taxes, death has become the only certainty. No one gets out of this world alive. Given that inevitability, you would think that all of us would prepare for dying. Unfortunately, that is far from… Read more »
Dean Ornish and his wife Anne have a formula for achieving great health and avoiding or reversing heart disease and cancer, as well as the risk factors that lead to these. Ornish was the first to show coronary heart disease could be reversed by a very low fat diet (Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing… Read more »
Author Jason Fung, MD, of the University of Toronto has taken “Ockham’s razor” to simplify the management of type 2 diabetes. William of Ockham (1287-1347) was an English friar and philosopher famous for postulating that with complex problems, the hypothesis with the fewest assumptions is usually correct. In his book The Obesity Code (2016), Dr.… Read more »
Jennifer Johnson was looking for something to lift the weight of negative self-image that had plagued her most of her life. As a desert resident, she had a successful catering business, was a practicing yogi, and had many close friends, but was seeking something more. In March 2015 she first heard about the walk of… Read more »
A young filmmaker and health care journalist, Max Lugavere, teamed with a concierge wellness physician in New York, Paul Grewal, MD, to write Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life (HarperWave, 2018). After reading three detailed books on brain health and nutrition: Brain Maker by David Perlmutter, MD,… Read more »
It is important news for the healthy nutrition world when Mark Hyman, MD, comes out with a new book. Dr. Hyman is the director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine and chairman of the board of the Institute for Functional Medicine. He practices and directs the UltraWellness Center in Massachusetts and served as… Read more »
The Coachella Valley is fortunate to have Steven Gundry, MD, practicing restorative medicine here since 2002. The former head of cardiothoracic surgery at Loma Linda University, he changed careers when he realized the power of nutrition to transform health. I share several patients with Dr. Gundry and they all sing his praises and are grateful… Read more »
Fifty percent of Americans will have dementia by age 85. This is a growing epidemic. Cognitive decline starts much earlier. We now know the causes: too much sugar and other carbs in our diet and an unhealthy lifestyle with too much stress, not enough exercise, not enough sleep and a lack of the right brain… Read more »
What if the inability to lose those unwanted pounds was all in your head? According to local fitness guru and Thrive Tribe leader, Jay Nixon, it is. Nixon, who has been implementing his theory of mind-over-matter for over twenty years, has transformed hundreds of lives. Now, through his new book, The Overweight Mind, he is… Read more »
The Microbiome Solution is not your ordinary diet book. It’s more of an education in how our bodies work and how we can impact them to produce better health. Health expert and author Dr. Robynne Chutkan honed the information she shares in the book through observation, trial and error in her practice as an integrative… Read more »
How many doctors do you know who are truly healthy and fit? Why is that? Aren’t they in the health industry? The answer to that is no. Most doctors learned their trade in traditional medical schools which taught little about health and wellness, and a lot about medicine. We can be thankful for the latter,… Read more »
It’s a fact that the brain controls the body, but what controls the brain? In his new book, Brain Maker, David Perlmutter, MD, describes an emerging field of science that contends that the gut controls the health of the body, including the health of the brain. As you may recall from Dr. Perlmutter’s first book… Read more »
You’ve heard the term “knee jerk reaction”? Well, our brains do the same type of thing. Throughout our lives, our brains create neurological pathways which connect thoughts to reactions. These reactions manifest as emotions and physical experiences. Until recently, it was generally accepted by medical professionals that once the brain was formed, these neurological pathways… Read more »
Lisa Genova had a dream. She wanted to someday write a book, but as a Harvard-trained neuroscientist, her family and colleagues laughed at the thought. Ironically, life circumstances led her to that dream sooner than expected, while her grandmother’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s led her to the valuable research that made Still Alice a New York… Read more »
William Davis, M.D., changed the way many of us view “healthy whole grains” with his New York Times bestseller, Wheat Belly. Describing his first book as a means of “easing consumers into the real conversation,” Davis takes it a step further in his new book, Wheat Belly Total Health, explaining the tremendous benefits – and… Read more »
