Perfect High School Experience
April 22, 2019
After thinking long and hard about the above data and other high school ponderings, what would the ideal high school experience look like.
Teenagers would attend a school that starts at 9:30 am after they have presumably had a nice long night of memory consolidating sleep. They would learn the classics of art, literature, math and science with a wide open and skeptical pedagogy. Teaching to the test would be abolished. Thank God. Thinking outside of the box is praised.
Lunch and snacks would be provided and be wholly nutritious including fresh fruits and vegetables, locally sourced meats and no sugary beverages would be seen.
The air would be circulated twice daily with fresh air to enhance learning.
Sleep - Why is it so important? PART II
April 22, 2019
Let us pause here! So far we now know that humans at all ages will suffer from memory dysfunction and brain sewage cleanup problems leading to inflammation and damage long term. What ages are most at risk? They are likely mirrored by other physiologic events that are at risk based on age. Teenagers, infants and toddlers are rapidly growing creatures requiring more macro/micronutrients, water, and toxin avoidance for success. It is likely that sleep follows these same principles.
Going to a simple google scholar search for "sleep deprivation age risk" brings up countless articles on the effects of sleep deprivation
Asthma, Allergies and Nutrition - The Story Part X
April 22, 2019
THE NUTRITIONAL STUDIES
THE CASE
Case presentation: DM is a 12 yo caucasian male who presented to integrative pediatric clinic for the first time at age 8 years with the chief complaint of moderate persistent asthma and allergic rhinitis. His past medical history relates one to three severe asthmatic flairs per winter requiring steroids and overnight hospital stays over the past few years.
Sleep - Why is it so important? PART I
April 15th, 2019
Sleep has always been a necessary function of everyday life for all mammals. From an evolutionary perspective this cannot be a mistake as during the period of sleep you are vulnerable to predation. Therefore, there has to be a really good reason for mammals to sleep for extended hours. What is that reason? Why are toddlers and frankly all of us more cranky when we do not sleep enough?
Dr. Peter Attia and Dr. Matthew Walker's recent podcast on Drive was the impetus for this newsletter. They deeply dove into the deep end of the sleep pool and answered a host of questions
Asthma, Allergies and Nutrition - The Story Part IX
April 15th, 2019
THE NUTRITIONAL STUDIESTHE DO Omega 3 and 6 Fatty Acids
Fish oil, flax oil, wild caught fish, kelp, grass fed meats are all the rage now for health conscious consumers. There is good reason for this shift in consumerism. These foods are all loaded with health promoting omega three fats. On the other hand, seed and vegetable oils are the major source of omega six fatty acids. Omega three and six fatty acids are a type of fat called polyunsaturated fatty acid(PUFA)
Center for the Environment Lecture
April 8th, 2019
Physicist Amory Lovins, who is called one of the Western world's most influential energy thinkers, will speak at Keppel Auditorium on the Catawba College campus on Wednesday, April 17, at 6:30 p.m.
Lovins, chief scientist and chairman emeritus of the Rocky Mountain Institute, will speak on "Transforming the Energy named him one of the 100 top global thinkers.
According to Lovins "most of the energy we use is wasted. Smarter technologies and designs that use energy more efficiently could provide the same or better services with far less energy, money, and risk.
2000 Days for Mom and Baby ITS TIME TO EAT!
April 8th, 2019
We now know that immune tolerance is critical to developing a balanced immune response to food proteins and thus maintaining a non allergic phenotype. Knowing this to be true, what is the ideal time to start eating real food as an adjunct to breastfeeding?
For years, pediatricians told parents to wait until after 1 year to start with the major allergenic proteins like eggs, peanut or shellfish. We also, wrongly, told parents to start with pure sugar as rice cereal at 4 months of age! Boy were we wrong!
Asthma, Allergies and Nutrition - The Story Part VIII
April 8, 2019
THE NUTRITIONAL STUDIES
THE DO
Vitamin D
Why is Vitamin D so important for Asthma and allergies?
Vitamin D along with vitamin A and commensal gut bacteria promote the maturation of the immune system's police called T regulator cells via the gene FOXP3.
DOC SMO
MRCH 25TH,2019
Why are so many children wearing glasses to see correctly? This question and other eye related prevention tips are discussed by my friend Doc Smo. In his pedcast, you can glean trusted information that is actionable for your whole family.
Dr. M
Resistant Strach
March 25th, 2019
Resistant starch continues to emerge as a valuable part of a modern diet to enhance gut health.
From Dr. Amy Nett on the Chris Kressor blog - "Prebiotics are indigestible carbohydrates, or at least indigestible to us, that reach the colon intact and selectively feed many strains of beneficial bacteria. Prebiotics are generally classified into three different types: non-starch polysaccharides (such as inulin and fructooligosaccharide), soluble fiber (including psyllium husk and acacia fibers), and resistant starch (RS).
Asthma, Allergies and Nutrition - The Story Part VI
March 25, 2019
THE NUTRITIONAL STUDIESTHE DO
Antioxidants and Asthma Antioxidants are a class of chemicals found primarily in high volumes in stressed plants as a defense mechanism against their predation. When we consume these foods, we presume that we garner the benefits of their function in our body. For our purposes, the definition of an antioxidant is a chemical that inhibits the damage to our cells from natural oxidation events that occur in the body during inflammation or infectious killing events*.
Nourish Your Tribe Presentation and Book Signing Event at Catawba College Center for the Environment
March 20th, 2019
Nicole Magryta, MBA, RDN, LDN, is a nutrition consultant, educator, certified integrative health coach, and author specializing in integrative and functional medicine therapies for children.In her private practice today, Nicole has changed the lives of children and adults by tackling chronic disease from the root and not the leaves. She can be found throughout her community transforming school wellness programs, guiding large corporate wellness plans for companies such as GE and Conagra, as well as sitting on the board of directors of Live Healthy Carolinas. With additional culinary training, she spends her spare time transforming food in her test kitchen, teaching, inspiring, and developing quality, nutrient-dense foods for corporate and community clients. Nicole lectures extensively to academic, business, and community audiences on integrative nutrition, family and children's health, disease prevention, and healthy cooking techniques. She lives in Davidson, NC, with her husband and two children.
Find out more about Nicole at www.nicolemagryta.com.
Nicole Magryta's presentation and book signing is scheduled for March 28, 6:30 p.m. in Room 300 of the Center for the Environment. Registration Link
Broken System
March 18th 2019
When we as Americans think about medicine, we often think about the dysfunctional cost structures of big health systems and insurance oligarchs deciding your fate while making you pay more and more of the share of the cost burden. Medical costs are the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the United States. That is disturbing. Being a reluctant participant in this insanity is often deeply troubling to me and my soul.
Clearly there are others who share these feelings in the world, but one man/MD has decided to parody and expose the insanity in video format.
Asthma, Allergies and Nutrition - The Story Part V
March 18, 2019
THE NUTRITIONAL STUDIES
THE DO
There is good quality data on specific parts of a diet or nutritional plan as it relates to asthma. This section will detail these micronutrient and macronutrient benefits and how to implement them in an overall asthma plan. We will start by looking at a list of high quality nutritional interventions and then follow with an expanded view of a few critical players.
Dogs for Better Lives
March 11, 2019
As many of you know, Dr. Rose has been working with service dogs for years at Salisbury Pediatrics. Service dogs are a vital part of the therapeutic effect for children with behavioral and other disorders. Her commitment has led her to becomming a key part of a non profit organization called Dogs For Better Lives.
This year as you plan your charitable giving consider giving directly to Dogs For Better Lives via this link.
Or, you can go to the website Wooftrax and walk your dog for the charity of your choice.
First 2000 Days for Mom and Baby Nature versus Nurture part II
March 11, 2019
Ideally, we would like to shelter our mother-child dyad from all significant stressors during pregnancy and childhood until they are significantly older and their genes are well established and running full steam ahead. Clearly this is polyannish as life happens to us and often not by choice. That being said, we have the ability to make choices and to learn how to perceive events in a positive light.
How can we see any event in a positive light? How do we choose this route?
Are we born seeing the glass half empty or half full? I think not.
Asthma, Allergies and Nutrition - The Story Part IV
March 11, 2019
THE NUTRITIONAL STUDIES
Looking at the studies, there is a paucity of evidence that the DASH diet has any effect on asthma prevalence or morbidity because it has not been studied other than a pilot study in poorly controlled asthma that showed a non-statistically significant reduction in symptom scores.(Ma et. al. 2013) The known benefits to cardiovascular disease are not immediately translatable to asthma.
The Mediterranean diet is the most studied of all of the "positive", i.e. thought to be beneficial diets. When it comes to the onset and prevalence of asthma, the Mediterranean diet has mixed results. It has positive results in relation to asthma morbidity.(Barros et. al. 2008)(Sexton et. al. 2013)(Garcia-Marcos et. al. 2013)(Papamichael M. 2017)
Calling all High School Students that are between the ages of 14 and 17!!!!!
March 11, 2019
This is a phenomenally beneficial experience for all teenagers! Last year my son and my best friend from High School's son attended this camp for a week. The learning, the friendship and the mentoring provided were top shelf. If you have a 14 to 17 year old teenager, consider sending them to this camp this summer.
Catawba College Center for the Environment host's the event. My good friend Dr. John Wear is the man in charge and we are blessed that he is!
Infant Cognition
March 11, 2019
Dr. Cheatham's lab does excellent research to help us understand the effects of certain micronutrients on infant's cognition and health. If you have a newborn that fits this study's parameters, you may find the study most beneficial .
Read the introduction above and then head to this link for more details.
Dr. M
2000 Days for Mom and Baby Nature versus Nurture
March 4th, 2019
Now that we have set the table for health with optimal delivery and newborn feeding methods, we need to look at the issues of nature versus nurture.
The theory of nature versus nurture is that your genes, your environment or both have a profound impact on human health. Essentially, is it your genetic code that dictates your health outcome or is it your parents nurturing nature of you? My favorite researchers in this space are Dr. Moshe Szyf and Dr. Michael Meaney at McGill University.
They performed some of the seminal research in rodents looking to prove this answer. From his epigenetic explanatory article, "We propose that the modulation of DNA methylation in response to environmental cues early in life serves as a mechanism of life-long genome "adaptation" that molecularly embeds the early experiences of a child ("nurture") in the genome ("nature"). (Szyf 2011)