A4M

On Thursday I rendezvoused with my boss in Richfield, where we carpooled the rest of the way to Las Vegas for the 25th annual American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine World Congress! Dad registered me as his assistant, and we enjoyed four days of learning from functional medicine doctors from all over the world. While he was in a specialized module about weight management, I was taking notes for him with thousands of other doctors, NPs, and healthcare professionals in the general session. 

Dr. Mark Rosenberg educates the masses.

Because I've been working for my dad this year and I just finished my first semester of nursing school, I understood a lot more than I otherwise would have of this conference. I've heard all about inflammation from dad but now I know more about what triggers it and how to avoid it. I've learned the basics of statin drugs, proton pump inhibitors, and antibiotics in school but now I understand some of their unintended but serious adverse effects and some better alternatives. 

I met Dr. Rolf and Dr. Silvia Binder, inventor and CEO of Ondamed.

I learned side-by-side from Dr. Silvia Binder on one of
the machines we operate in our office.

A lot of people feel like Mark Twain when he said "the only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not." However, people who decide they've had enough of crappy health and start to make some healthy changes discover what it really means to feel good and be healthy. If they are on a trip and can't find any real food, they discover how disgusting junk food actually tastes. Here are the highlights of what we talked about:

Inflammation is the root of all disease. It even triggers autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular problems, obesity, and hormonal imbalances. Gluten is inflammatory for all people, even if they if they don't realize they're sensitive to it. Limit other inflammatory foods such as dairy, corn, and sugar. Avoid exposure to toxins such as chemicals and heavy metals like those found in vaccines, deodorant, and food packaging.

Our bodies are 10% human cells and 90% microbial cells. Keep your gut microbiome healthy (the "good" bacteria).  Some of the ways that we damage our microbiome is by eating gluten (there it is again!), using mouthwash and antibacterial soaps, consuming sugar and artificial sweeteners, and taking antibiotics. With just one course of antibiotics, our microbiome is altered forever - and for most bacterial infections there is a better way of treatment. Some of the best ways to encourage bacteroidete or "good" bacteria growth is by avoiding sugar (more on sugar later), eating organic non-GMO food, giving birth vaginally instead of by cesarean section, breastfeeding, getting out and playing in the dirt, and consuming fermented foods such as kefir, sauerkraut, kombucha, and yogurt. Everyone should be taking supplemental probiotics.

Exercise helps maintain brain health, reduces PMS symptoms, and stimulates the lymphatic system, which rids your body of toxins and waste. Frequency is more important than intensity, and if you exercise you will live longer. So take a hike! 'Nuf said.

Chromosomes are the genetic code in our body, and they are protected by caps called telomeres, similar to the plastic covering at the end of our shoelaces. They prevent our chromosomes from binding with rogue protiens and altering our DNA. Each time our cells divide, the telomeres get shorter. Telomeres determine when we die, as the shorter they are, the more we age. It's the critically short ones you have to measure, because they are the cells that cannot replicate or become cancerous. Exercise, a proper diet supplemented with omega 3 fatty acids and antioxidants, and eliminating stress contribute to longer telomeres and a longer life.

Sugar... the greatest silent villain of disease. Nobody should be eating it. In addition to causing obesity and diabetes, it increases inflammation, feeds cancer cells, contributes to ADHD, autism, and dementia, lowers testosterone, wrecks the gut microbiome, and actually makes PMS symptoms worse (sayonara, chocolate cravings).

While I've already heard a lot of this stuff before from my doctor, it was really neat to hear it from hundreds of others from all over the world and be in a room where everyone is part of the functional medicine "tribe." It really opened my eyes to the art of medicine and I'm very excited for my future in it.

Yours in health,

Chris