Deconstructed Medicine - Unraveled by Dr. Lori Gerber

I’ve been studying for my boards the last few weeks. No, I’m not still in med school. Retaking board exams—as well as completing educational credits in the interim—is something every doctor has to do every 10 years to maintain his or her certification. The idea is that we never stop learning—which is so important when you’re in a field where so much changes, so quickly. One topic that’s not taught in med school (but will be soon, as traditional medicine is finally catching on) is something called “Leaky Gut.” It’s a non-traditional medical approach taught in anti-aging medical programs and it’s a condition I see a lot in my practice at Refresh Wellness . I’d like to spend a little time today talking about this very real, very common disorder. Q: What exactly is leaky gut? A: Leaky gut is another poor choice of medical terminology. It is the mechanism by which the body’s stomach lining, which is one-cell thick and extends from anus to brain, becomes disrupted and irritat...

We've all heard the phrase "fast metabolism" to describe someone who can quickly lose weight or keep it off. But what does it actually mean to have a fast or slow metabolism? Here's how this body process affects weight loss and other aspects of health. What Is Metabolism? Metabolism is the process by which your body converts the food you eat into energy not only for exercise and movement, but also for breathing, blood circulation, hormone release, cell growth and repair, and other functions that happen at rest. People with a "fast" metabolism have a higher basal metabolic rate: the number of calories used to perform these functions. Simply put, the higher the metabolism, the more calories burned at rest. What Affects Basal Metabolic Rate? Metabolism is affected by a complex combination of factors, including body size and weight, percentages of muscle and fat, age, and gender. Because men tend to have more muscle than women, they also tend to have hi...