Dr. Tracy McAlvanah's Wellness Blog

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Do you need supplements if you eat a good diet?

By Functional Health Minute - July 06, 2016

For functional medicine guidance, please contact Dr. Tracy McAlvanah It’s a common argument: “You don’t need to take supplements if you eat a good diet.” Although a good diet is foundational to good health, supplements play an instrumental role in various health conditions. People who don’t understand the value of supplements think they exist only to profit off of “suckers for snake oil.” To be sure, those products exist. Others view them as dangerous and unregulated compounds that should be taken off the market. Those products exist as well. The United States is unique compared to the rest of the west in terms of of the freedom of our supplement market. Supplement availability in Europe and Canada is severely limited compared to the United States. With this comes pros and cons. How to be a smart supplement shopper The key to understanding supplements is to understand the underlying causes of your condition. For instance, ten different people can each have a different cause f

Is your diabetes diet worsening your diabetes?

By Functional Health Minute - June 29, 2016

For functional medicine guidance, please contact Dr. Tracy McAlvanah If you have diabetes, whether it’s type 1 or type 2, your doctor likely recommended a diet endorsed by the American Diabetes Association. But did you know the diabetic diet recommends foods that could be slowly worsening your diabetes condition? Turns out there is more to a diabetic diet than grams of carbs and sugar, although those are vitally important. For people with type 1 diabetes and for an estimated 20 percent of people with type 2 diabetes, diabetes is an autoimmune disease. This means the immune system is attacking and destroying the parts of the pancreas involved in insulin production and regulation. Over time destruction is severe enough the body can no longer adequately regulate blood sugar. Certain foods on the diabetic diet, such as gluten and dairy, have been shown to both trigger autoimmunity and make it worse. Many type 2 diabetics have autoimmune diabetes People with type 1 diabetes, which

Crash in the afternoon but wide awake at 3 or 4 a.m.?

By Functional Health Minute - June 23, 2016

For functional medicine guidance, please contact Dr. Tracy McAlvanah Are you often wide awake around 3 or 4 a.m., your mind racing with anxiety, but then collapsing into a near coma in the late afternoon? This maddening cycle of waking up and falling asleep at inconvenient hours is often relieved by managing low blood sugar. Why you’re wide awake at 3 or 4 a.m. Although sleep is a time for the body to rest, your brain is still busy working on repair and regeneration, transforming the day’s impressions into lasting memories, and keeping you entertained with dreams. The brain demands more fuel than any other organ, about 20 percent of the body’s total supply. These needs don’t abate during sleep, when your body is fasting. In the absence of food, the body keeps the brain going by gradually raising the adrenal hormone cortisol, which triggers the production of glucose to feed the brain through the night. At least in theory. Chronic low blood sugar breaks this system down because

The key to staying youthful is to embrace aging

By Functional Health Minute - June 16, 2016

For functional medicine guidance, please contact Dr. Tracy McAlvanah Aging can cause us to feel invisible and unwanted in a society that worships youth. However, the key to staying youthful into your latter years doesn’t lay in the hands of your hair stylist or medical spa, but instead in your attitude. Research shows internalizing negative stereotypes about aging harms your health, which speeds up aging. However, having a positive attitude toward aging can boost immune function, promote healthy behaviors, and help you feel in control of your life. Embrace aging for the following benefits Here are some benefits researchers have found to a positive perception of aging, such as feeling useful and happy with yourself: Positive perception of aging has been shown to be more important than cholesterol, blood pressure, weight, and even exercise when it comes to improving longevity. One study found positive self-perception around aging lowered the risk of aging-associated disabili

How to use functional medicine to boost your libido

By Functional Health Minute - June 09, 2016

For functional medicine guidance, please contact Dr. Tracy McAlvanah We often think of good health in terms of blood pressure or cholesterol levels, but your libido is also an important indicator. If yours has gone missing, it could be a red flag that important underlying health issues need to be addressed. People who turn to functional medicine for other health issues, such as low thyroid function, an autoimmune disorder, or depression, often report a boost in their libido thanks to their protocol. Of course, it’s natural to expect low libido following a major stressor or during an unhealthy relationship, but if it’s chronically absent, investigate why. Common causes of low libido Below are some common causes of low libido that can be addressed through functional medicine: Blood sugar imbalances. Many people eat more carbohydrates than their body can handle, they skip meals, or they consume too much caffeine. Eating habits that send blood sugar constantly soaring and crashing

Glutathione: A power tool in autoimmune management

By Functional Health Minute - June 02, 2016

For functional medicine guidance, please contact Dr. Tracy McAlvanah Our bodies have to work hard to deal with hundreds of toxic chemicals in our daily environment, in our food, and our water. Even if you eat a clean, organic diet and use non-toxic products, it’s impossible to completely avoid them. Thankfully, certain natural compounds can boost levels of our most powerful antioxidant, glutathione, in our bodies. Glutathione is a powerful defense against toxins and inflammation. It protects the body’s cells from damage, it helps detoxify the body, and supports optimal immune function. When glutathione levels drop too low, this makes you more susceptible to autoimmune disease, multiple food sensitivities, chemical and heavy metal sensitivities, chronic inflammatory disorders, leaky gut, and other immune-related issues. By ensuring your glutathione levels stay at robust levels, you provide your body with an army of soldiers ready to “take a bullet” and shield your cells from the d

A hidden trigger of autoimmunity: Too much salt

By Functional Health Minute - May 26, 2016

For functional medicine guidance, please contact Dr. Tracy McAlvanah Those with high blood pressure and heart disease know to avoid salt, but researchers have learned salt comes with another risk — too much alters immune cells in a way that promotes autoimmune disease . Examples of autoimmune disease include Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, lupus, and type 1 diabetes. Autoimmune disease rates have skyrocketed in recent years, affecting more people than heart disease and cancer combined. Although salt is not in itself harmful, Americans are guilty of eating way too much salt, more than the human body was ever designed to process. Fast foods, junk foods, and snack foods are all heavily salted to increase palatability and mask their inherent poor quality. Sadly, our extreme consumption of salt raises the risk of the body’s immune system attacking itself and destroying viable tissue; this is what autoimmune disease is. For instance, in

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