Blood tests can help make sure your ‘healthy’ diet isn’t doing your body damage

If you want to lose weight quickly, you’ve probably heard about – or may already be following – the ketogenic (‘keto’) diet.

As well as being an effective way to lose weight, studies have shown this high-fat, low-carb diet may deliver other health benefits, including reducing seizures in children with epilepsy and protecting brain function.

But while the diet certainly has ...

John is a former vegetarian, who recently started eating a more vegetable-rich “Paleo” diet.  He’s feeling great, and at his ideal weight, but does have some nagging digestive issues like heartburn and occasional diarrhea, that don’t seem to be going away.  These issues were present when he didn’t eat meat.  He takes over-the-counter supplements to support his body, and isn’t quite sure if they really help all that much.  He was perusing the internet, and “Dr. Google” suggested he could ...

Jane was having difficulty maintaining her energy throughout the day.  She attributed it to poor sleep and more stress with her work, but she was also experiencing changes in her hair, increased anxiety, and she was putting on weight.  She set up an appointment wit her family practitioner, who checked some basic lab work, including iron levels, electrolytes, and a TSH.  All came back normal (or within normal lab limits according to the laboratory reference ranges).  Her practitioner advised to ...

No one likes to be told what to do, but unfortunately many doctors and health care practitioners don’t realize that that is exactly what is happening on a daily basis – insurance coverage and medical algorithms often determine the tests that a health care provider will order.

You can request that your family practitioner order a set of lab tests, but it is unfortunately a low likelihood that they will acquiesce to your request.  Why?  Besides the algorithms and insurance restrictions ...

The term prediabetes was coined in 1997 by the Expert Committee on Diagnoses and Classification of Diabetes Mellitus, but most health care practitioners don’t address any lab abnormality that falls within this definition.  It is more common to wait until it becomes diabetes, then give multiple medications that become lifelong treatments.  To make matters worse, a diagnosis of “diabetes” can affect your ability to obtain life insurance and long term insurance, so why aren’t more practitioners addressing the prediabetic ranges ...

If you watch TV, you’re likely to see commercials about prescription medications for diabetes.  These advertisements depict a scene that many want – happy, healthy, and functional.  If you close your eyes and listen to the commercials, you’ll find that a significant amount of information is provided at the end about risks of taking the medication.  Try it!

With so many people living with diabetes, the term is used so often that we either think that we will never get this, ...