Is Obesity a Genetically Induced Brain Disease?

You may have heard that a piece on the TV program called 60 Minutes recently sparked some controversy. A doctor stated that obesity is a brain disease, and the largest contributor to obesity is genetics. To quote her, "That means if you were born to parents that have obesity, you have a 50-85% likelihood of having the disease yourself even with optimal diet, exercise, sleep management, [and] stress management..." She tells us that lifestyle won't make a difference for genetically flawed people.

The 60 Minutes Program then segues into the new weight-reducing medications, stressing how effective they are, potentially leaving the audience with four takeaways: 1) Obesity is a brain disease. 2) Obesity is genetic 3) Lifestyle changes won't work for the genetically flawed. and 4) Drugs are better than lifestyle changes, especially for the genetically flawed. This post will address these issues and more.

Age is only a number

I was on a digital detox this week and therefore did not look at any research or explore new topics in health. I was incidentally celebrating my sixtieth birthday at the same time. During the week, I saw some old college friends, one of whom I had not seen since 1985. I was feeling a bit nostalgic, so I went on social media after my detox was over to look at pictures from the past. I found this one of me in a striped shirt from 1985 that my dad took by our pool. My wife always tells me that she thinks I look just as good as the younger me, so I got the crazy idea to try and strike the same pose and see how I really stack up to a younger man. We had a good laugh trying. She claims to like the silver fox with the fancy watch better! Unfortunately, many of the years in between the photos were spent with avoidable health problems. This post will cover what happened and how I was able to get healthy and strong again.

My Continuous Glucose Monitor experiment

The most effective treatment for chronic conditions is diet and lifestyle intervention, which help restore normal hormonal and metabolic function. Even mildly abnormal glucose levels are an early warning sign for many chronic conditions, such as insulin resistance, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, mitochondrial health, blood vessel damage, heart disease, strokes, and brain health. Blood glucose measurements are one of the best ways to assess metabolic function and overall health. A fasting blood glucose test and the hemoglobin A1c level are two of the most common measurements doctors look at to evaluate your metabolism. Both of these measurements have limitations. Because they are one-time measurements, they fail to consider the bigger picture, miss fundamental problems, and are unreliable (specifically a1c). A better way to understand the dynamic nature of our blood glucose is a continuous glucose monitor, also called a CGM. In this post, I will l talk about the many benefits to using one.

Coronavirus Pandemic Statistics: Have We Lost the Forest For the Trees?

When looking at anything, as the saying goes, one can lose the forest for the trees. When we focus on fine details, they can be ugly, off-putting, and frightening. No matter how beautiful the person, the skin is scary up-close, no exceptions. Imagine a world where we could only see the microscopic view of everybody’s skin at first, only to draw out later to see how attractive they are. The first impression would be universal disgust. So it is with the Covid-19 death data. My post today will look at the bigger picture to help us get a (hopefully better) perspective on the recent focus on death.

Gum Disease: An Overlooked Risk Factor For Death From Covid-19

The list of comorbidities on the CDC's Coronavirus pages is extensive. Still, distressingly, it does not include any references to oral infections. Adding periodontal disease would significantly increase the average number of comorbidities to 2.75. The reason for my distress is that their public health efforts will fall short. Here’s what you can do about it today.

Functional Medicine Shines Over Conventional Medice In a Recent Study

Although virtually every physician agrees that regular physical activity, weight loss, adequate nutrition, and quitting smoking all result in health benefits, their business model does not allow the integration of these lifestyle modifications due to the short duration of the average visit, reliance on pharmaceuticals and lack of integrative care. Functional Medicin, on the other hand, focuses more on lifestyle changes than medication. A new study shows that this is a superior approach.