The Medical Advisor

Over the past century, there has been a dramatic shift in the types of fats consumed in the typical Western diet. Traditional diets, which contained saturated fats from animal sources, have given way to diets high in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), particularly those derived from vegetable oils. This shift was largely driven by the belief that saturated fats were harmful to cardiovascular health, a notion that has been increasingly challenged and debunked in recent years. The impact of this dietary change has been profound. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), life expectancy in the United States declined for the third consecutive year in 2022, a trend not seen since World War I. Simultaneously, chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer continue to rise, with the CDC reporting that 6 in 10 adults in the U.S. have a chronic disease, and 4 in 10 have two or more. Obesity rates have also skyrocketed. The National Health and N...

The liver is the largest and one of the most important organs in your body. Every one of your body systems depends on the liver: Best known for processing food, it also plays a role in maintaining your overall energy level and boosting your immune system. Your liver also helps transport essential nutrients, flushes out harmful toxins, and keeps your cholesterol and blood sugar in check. However, stress, pollution, and unhealthy habits take a toll on liver health over time. In today's fast-paced world, it's not always possible to consume a well-balanced diet that will provide you with all of the essential nutrients your liver needs to function optimally. Although our bodies are naturally equipped with built-in detoxification systems—primarily our liver and kidneys but also our digestive system, lungs, and skin—there are plenty of ways we can support these pathways to do their jobs better. Fortunately, many plant-based compounds, herbs, vitamins, and minerals can facilitate thes...

In a recent MedCram interview (below), Rhonda Patrick, Ph.D., cofounder of Found My Fitness, provided a wonderful summary of the benefits of sauna therapy, and some of the basic principles of sauna treatment.   Further below, I’ve also included another excellent video featuring neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman, in which he takes a deep dive into the science of how and why heating is so beneficial for health, both when locally applied and when using a sauna. I have been a huge fan of sauna therapy for nearly a decade and have learned a great deal along the way. In later sections, I will attempt to summarize my understanding of how to best implement sauna for maximum biological benefits, which include detoxification and heat shock protein amplification. I’ll also review how you can get the benefits of photobiomodulation from your sauna by using heat bulbs that also provided near- and mid-infrared frequencies. Temperature Matters The key to achieving the first two benefits — detoxi...