When I was in undergraduate school, I took a class called Nutrition Ecology. It talked about the ecosystem in which food is manufactured and how the environment moves various pesticides, pollutants, and toxins into our food supply.  Required reading for the course included “Silent Spring,” a book by Rachel Carson. Carson discussed how the use […]

When most people decide they want to lose weight and “get healthier,” they buy new running shoes. They either get a membership at the local gym or buy their own treadmill and start running. And running. And running. I know because I’ve treated their injuries.  To be clear, I’m not opposed to running for 20 […]

They’re not sexy. You can’t see them on the beach. Most people don’t know their names. But when properly trained, they can dramatically reduce the risk of spinal pain and injuries. They’re your core muscles – those small muscles in your pelvis, lower back, hips, and abdomen that glue you together. Strong core muscles provide […]

Think about how your life has changed to reduce the risk of exposure to the coronavirus. Physical distancing. Frequent and thorough handwashing. Working from home. Virtual schooling. More online shopping. Curbside pickup of groceries. Whether you did any or all of these things for a period of time or continue doing them to this day, […]

It’s a scientific fact that disease starts at the cellular level. Cancer and tumors are the result of abnormal cell division. Inflammation inside an artery that creates plaque is caused by unhealthy cells. How you feel and function is determined by the health of the 20-30 trillion cells in the human body. This is why […]

I often tell the story about my time as a pre-med student when I began seeing the connections between what I learned in nutrition, exercise science, biology, and chemistry classes. This led me to study and become passionate about functional medicine. Since I began my career in clinical practice and as a public speaker more […]

There’s a reason why the Pyramid of Health is displayed so prominently at Natural Healthcare Center. I wrote the Pyramid of Health and created this model from top to bottom as an illustration of how I think in clinical practice, and how our entire team approaches healthcare. We all share the same Goal – to […]

Bursitis is a condition often associated with athletes. A tennis player with tennis elbow. A baseball player with shoulder bursitis. A soccer player or runner with hip or knee bursitis. Bursitis is definitely common in sports. However, bursitis is a condition that happens to everyday people performing everyday activities, from gardening and cleaning, to installing […]

As I prepared my presentation for seventh and eighth graders at Long Branch Middle School as part of a WEForum health education event, I went through some serious reflection and creative thinking. On one hand, if you had told me as a student in the late 1980s and early 1990s that we would have created […]

It’s not uncommon for people to chalk up poor health to genetics. Occurrences of heart disease, stroke, obesity, cancer, Alzheimer’s and other conditions are often viewed as inevitable by people with a family history of those conditions. It runs in the family. The fact is, chronic illness is far more likely to be caused by […]