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Nutrition

Thrive Carolinas / Nutrition

My Journey Overcoming an Eating Disorder

[caption id="attachment_4141" align="alignleft" width="300"] Trish Bennett[/caption] National Eating Disorder Awareness Week is February 26th - March 3rd. 28.8 million Americans will suffer from an eating disorder in their lifetime.  Eating disorders can affect anyone and carry an increased risk of suicide and medical complications. I want to share my personal story with all of you, hoping it may resonate with you or someone you love. Suffering from bulimia and then anorexia for a decade, I weighed 79 pounds at the height of my disease. To put it bluntly, I should be dead right now. At age 30, I thought I had overcome it, but I would then trade one obsession for another (isn’t that always the case for addictive personalities). [caption id="attachment_11271" align="alignright" width="187"] This is me when I...

It is Not All in Your Head: A Discussion of the Role Lifestyle and Diet Play in Mental Disease

Nancy A. Palermo MD We have always suspected that ultra-processed diets were linked to chronic diseases, including psychiatric diseases like depression and anxiety, but a recently published in JAMA (September 2023) showed that women who consumed the most ultra-processed foods (foods high in salt, sugar, refined carbohydrates, hydrogenated oils, and artificial additives) were 50% more likely to suffer from depression than those women who avoided these foods. This is yet another study to support the fact that mental disorders are not distinct entities and have a tremendous overlap with other physical disorders. A poor diet can largely influence both mental disorders and physical disorders. Some researchers, like Dr. Christopher Palmer, a Harvard Psychiatrist and researcher and author of Brain Energy, have even suggested that many mental disorders can...

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The Science Behind an Apple a Day

The Science Behind an Apple a Day Nancy A. Palermo MD Everyone knows the saying” An apple a day keeps the doctor away” but current research into the power of food shows there are real reasons this powerful fruit might just reduce your doctor visits. Apples are nutritional power houses providing 4 gm of fiber, Vitamin C, and K but more importantly one apple can provide 22% of the phenolic antioxidants. Antioxidants are compounds that help to neutralize free radicals in the body which can lead to tissue damage. Getting sufficient antioxidants is associated with reduction in cancer cell proliferation, reduction in damage to our DNA, reduction of lipid oxidation and cholesterol reduction leading to reduction in cancer and heart disease. One medium size apple contains less than 100...

More Evidence to Support Primary Prevention in Breast Cancer

More Evidence to Support Primary Prevention in Breast Cancer Dr. Nancy A. Palermo MD A landmark study published in BMJ of Oncology by researchers at the University of Edinburgh looked at the impact of 29 cancers in individuals ages 14 to 49 in over 200 countries over 30 years. The data was disturbing as it showed a 79% increase in the incidence of cancers in individuals less than age 50 over the 30-year period. This accounted for over 3.26 million cases. The researchers postulated that it is not genetic factors contributing to this increase but rather environmental factors like our diet high in processing and added sugars, alcohol use, smoking, physical inactivity, obesity, and environmental toxins and influencers. Our genes have not changed in the past 30 years, but...

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The Undeniable Health Benefits of a Plant-based Diet

By Nancy Palermo Lietz, MD “The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will instruct his patient in the care of the human frame in diet and the cause and prevention of diseases. “ Thomas Edison Americans have an obsession with nutrition, diet, and weight loss. Countless books on the subjects hit the bestseller list, only to be replaced by the next publication in print. It should be no surprise that Dr. Colin Campbell’s book, The China Study, quickly hit the bestseller list. His epidemiologic project demonstrated thousands of associations between dietary factors and disease. The most relevant finding, however, was that those individuals who ate the most animal-based foods had the most chronic disease. More importantly, his findings launched thousands of studies in nutrition that...

8 Tips for Healthy Grilling

Take your cooking outdoors this summer and grill delicious meals with fewer health risks. By Camille Berry | Experience Life |May 12, 2023 I'm firing up the grill as soon as it is warm enough for shorts and sandals. I love to hear the sweet song of sizzling brats and burgers, to smell the air rich with hickory, and to watch the licks of flame leap up. Sure, it makes a hot day even hotter, but that’s part of the fun of this time-honored summer tradition. Maybe you can’t get enough carne asada, boast of your barbecue skills, or are committed to an ­annual Fourth of July cookout. Whatever your menu, a summertime grill session is a ­glorious way to celebrate the season. But it’s not all sunshine and fun when it...

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Getting to know Dee Iraca, RDN, LDN, Professionally Trained Chef

Dee Iraca is a licensed Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, a professionally trained Chef, and the founder of Eat Well Chef. Her specialty is cooking classes. However, she also does private chef work and small-group catering and occasionally does wellness retreats focused on health and wellness. She also works with individuals to help sift through the “noise” of food and nutrition. Her mission is to help people live their best and healthiest lives by way of nutrition and food, and her superpower is teaching cooking techniques and inspiring with nutritious, delicious recipes. Dee has worked in a variety of settings, including a nutrition private practice where she helped people improve their health using motivation techniques, education, where she taught culinary and nutrition classes at Johnson & Wales University and the...

Super Detoxifying Foods

During your 30-day Detox, try including all of these foods. Detoxifying foods are naturally cleansing foods with properties supporting the liver in all three detoxifying steps. In addition, many of these foods contain ample fiber to help flush out toxins in the gastrointestinal tract. Celery: this vegetable is alkalizing and has natural diuretic properties which will help to read the body of excess fluids and toxins. Cell recedes cleanse the liver but also helps to detoxify by reducing uric acid levels. Cayenne Pepper or Capsaicin: Capsaicin help stimulate the detoxification process by increasing blood flow. It also helps stimulate sweat glands which is another way our body helps to filter out toxins. Watercress: This peppery green helps to energize cleansing enzymes in the liver, hoping to...

What Exactly is Clean Eating?

[caption id="attachment_9894" align="alignleft" width="300"] Nancy A. Palermo MD[/caption] Clean eating is an important part of what we provide at Thrive is Functional Medicine. Functional Medicine is a completely different approach to symptoms and diseases. It aims to get to the root cause of the symptoms rather than cover them up with medication. When we talk about root causes we cannot proceed without discussing diet as it is such a foundational component of our health. When I first meet a patient at their Functional intake visit, we often discuss their diet. I would say that most of them say they eat clean and do not feel their diet is the cause of their issues. While this certainly might be true more than not, we can find some places where...

How Does Alcohol Affect Gut Health?

Overindulging in alcohol damages a variety of bodily functions from your liver to your mental health. An often overlooked area affected by alcohol is your gut. But how exactly does alcohol affect your gut and what are the signs your gut isn’t happy with how much you’re drinking?   Alcohol and the Gut   Gut health is about more than your stomach–it can impact your mind, immune system, the risk level for certain types of cancer, and more. Basically, it’s one of the major determinants of health in your body.   When you drink alcohol, it can affect your gut health in two primary ways. First, once it's metabolized, it will enter the small intestine and decrease intestinal permeability. This can lead to a leaky gut syndrome, a condition that can...

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