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Tests / Biomarkers

Organic Acids Tests and Your Health

Meaningful and accurate assessment of health status often requires analysis of symptoms, and signs. Symptoms can be thought of as subjective reports from a patient regarding a physical disturbance or disease, while a sign can be defined as objective evidence of disease ascertained from biomarkers.1 Biomarkers can be characterized as a measure of pathogenic processes,…

Coffee and Inflammation

Coffee is one of the most popular beverages, worldwide, and consumption of the same has been documented as early as the Paleolithic era.1,2 Most of the population tends to consume coffee as a predominate vehicle for delivering caffeine. Consequently, interest among researchers has been mounting regarding the potential beneficial effects of coffee consumption, especially as…

Supporting Liver Function With Rosemary

Plants have been cultivated and used over many generations as medicinal remedies due to their therapeutic constituents.1 Of particular interest is the capacity of plants to control the degree of oxidative stress within the body; a process that left unmitigated, leads to neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and metabolic syndrome.2 Plants, such as rosemary,…

Managing Inflammation With Chia Seeds

Chronic inflammation, as covered in this author’s previous post, is a degenerative condition linked to, and a contributor of, deeper pathophysiological aberrations in health to include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer, autoimmune disorders, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.1 Considering the damage uninhibited inflammation can produce, methods to help control the intensity and degree of…

Chronic Inflammation: Management With Ginger

Chronic inflammation is a condition which is thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of several diseases such as cancer, autoimmune disorders, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes.1 Said illnesses are relatively prevalent in North America, demanding interventions to help manage, and possibly mitigate, their underlying and destructive immune-driven processes. Pharmaceutical medications…

Berberine, Chitosan, and Red Yeast Rice: Managing Dyslipidemia

In recent posts, this author has covered red yeast rice (RYR) and its beneficial effects upon dyslipidemia and clinical outcomes. Additional posts began exploring RYR with coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) to counteract potential CoQ10-lowering effects of RYR. In the following sections, research will be provided which considers the potential synergistic and lipid-lowering effects of concurrent supplementation…

Red Yeast Rice, Dyslipidemia, and CoQ10 Depletion

In this author’s last post, dyslipidemia was explored as well as its relationship to the lipid-lowering capacity of red yeast rice (RYR). In addition to outlining the cardiovascular benefits of RYR, research was also considered that identified the potential of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) induced deficiency from RYR intake, and physiological consequences of the same. Thus,…

Red Yeast Rice, Dyslipidemia, and CoQ10 Depletion

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a condition which has multiple rick factors to include lack of exercise, obesity, hypertension, smoking, ethnicity, gender age, and dyslipidemia.1 The latter factor, dyslipidemia, has a particularly potent contribution to cardiovascular risk, defined as the probability of an unwanted event such as myocardial infarction, stroke, or death.2 Ultimately, controlling the progression…

Hyperinsulinemia: An Early Warning to Type 2 Diabetes

Insulin resistance (IR) is an early marker, and important factor, in the development and progression of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D).1 Furthermore, and most relevantly, IR is likely to be present years preceding the manifestation of alterations in glycemic levels/control (i.e., hyperglycemia).1(100) As such, tracking and monitoring said biomarker could serve as a means of…

Breast Cancer: Potential Support with Ketogenic Diets

Breast cancer is the predominant form of cancer, and leading cause of death, among females.1 Surgery and systemic therapies such as hormonal therapy, chemotherapy, and molecular targeted therapy are implemented and chosen based on the molecular characteristics of the breast cancer. Despite such interventions, absolute efficaciousness of said modalities are not ubiquitous among breast cancer…