Inflammation

Pain remedies your surgeon might not know about. After undergoing surgery or surviving an accident, it’s routine to receive a prescription for opioids (narcotics) – a class of drugs that includes [...]

Smart choices for a happy brain In last week’s post I explored the ways in which inflammation can cause depression. The science shows that we cannot blame genetics alone for depression, and [...]

Move over serotonin, inflammation is the new target of depression treatment   Is inflammation a bad thing? Not necessarily: Inflammation helps the cells of the immune system fight infections [...]

The versatile vitamin’s mechanisms of action   This article serves as Part 3 in my series on vitamin C, pain, and opioid use disorder. Check out Part 1 to learn about the vitamin’s use in [...]

Nutritional support for acute, chronic, surgical, and cancer-related pain What do humans have in common with other primates, bats, and guinea pigs? (No, not a love of cheese!) What we all have in [...]

Our immune systems consist of two parts: the innate (or general) immune system and the adaptive (or acquired) immune system. In this video, I explain the basics of these immune systems, [...]

  What are T cells and what do they do? Dr. Zelfand explains the importance of these special white blood cells. She illuminates how T cells can transform into T Helper (Th) Cells 1, 2, 3, or [...]

Low-carb diets like the paleo, Atkins, and ketogenic programs are all the rage. How did they come to be so popular? And are they sustainable in the long run?   This is Part I of III in my [...]

If you own a human body, chances are you’ve taken at least one course of antibiotics in your lifetime – whether it was bubble-gum flavored amoxicillin for that ear infection in childhood, [...]

MTHF-Huh? MTHFR stands for methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, a gene that codes for an enzyme of the same name. However, if the MTHFR gene is mutated, the enzyme produced is imperfectly [...]

“Detox” is one of those edgy yet deceptively vague terms used to market anything from supplements to fragrances to yoni steam baths. (Yes, that really is a thing.) But do you really need to drop [...]

What was your first food? Have you ever asked your parents? Depending on your age, it might have been banana, sweet potato, oatmeal, or Cheerios. Perhaps it was meat, first chewed in your [...]

One of my favorite beverages this time of year is golden milk. Made from tasty, healing Ayurvedic herbs blende d with coconut milk, this drink is delicious served hot or cold. It’s also one of [...]

A recent study from Harvard has echoed what integrative physicians have been saying for years: There is little if any reason to give a child a bottle or glass of milk. . Health Problems [...]

This is Part One of my series on Reflux. So many Americans these days are popping Prilosec daily or reaching for TUMS after meals. Even babies nowadays are on Zantac! Aside from being of limited [...]

“Happy Holidays!” chimes the rep as she slides a sparkly-wrapped present across my desk, “here’s a little something for you.” After she leaves, I excitedly cut the red shiny ribbon, pull away the [...]

The holiday season is a time of magic, festivity, family time, and celebrating miracles both great and small. For some, however, the holidays are also a time of eating things you wouldn’t dare [...]

Going dairy free was kind of hard. After years of recommending the elimination and challenge diet to my patients, this past summer I finally took the leap of courage and did it myself. I knew it [...]

This is the gold standard for determining your food intolerances. When the gut is inflamed and irritated, it can begin reacting to foods that might otherwise not bother it. The elimination and [...]

Many dermatologists manage eczema with steroid creams. But is a steroid deficiency really the cause of dry, itchy skin? Eczema – or, as we doctor-types like to call it, Atopic Dermatitis – has [...]

As more and more research shows the harmful effects of gluten, a protein found in wheat, many people are cleaning up their diets and going gluten free. Although I recommend a gluten free diet to [...]