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Menopause and Heart Disease: What every woman should know

Heart disease is the most frequent cause of death in the United States.  We have not outgrown it, or cured ourselves as a nation, even though cholesterol medication has been the number one most prescribed drug in the United States.  For women, the data is even more startling.  After menopause, heart disease is the #1 killer of women.  While we all get our annual mammograms to prevent breast cancer, most women after menopause don’t realize that they need to be focusing as well on their annual evaluation for prevention of heart disease.   

Here are some details about this risk, which is related to “missing” the benefits of estrogen:  

Young women who have early surgical menopause (they had their ovaries removed) have a higher risk for heart disease independent of conventional risk factors

In the cardiovascular system, studies show that Estradiol reduces:

  • Inflammation in injured arteries
  • Oxidative stress in arteries and vascular smooth muscle cells
  • LDL oxidation (which increases the risk of plaque)
  • Insulin resistance, 
  • Cardiac hypertrophy (thickening of heart muscle) 
  • Blood pressure by increasing vasodilation in vascular endothelium, helping reduce blood pressure.

Given this information, it appears that after menopause, women lose the protective effects of estrogen that they have enjoyed until that time.  The questions now become, does estrogen replacement reduce CV risk? And if it does reduce CV risk, is the risk/benefit a net positive?

The results of studies have been mixed.  Observational evidence has suggested that there might be a protective effect of menopausal hormone therapy on coronary heart disease; however, the WHI and other trials of menopausal hormone therapy have not demonstrated such an effect.  And so it appears the jury is still out on this one.  Regardless of whether you take hormone therapy or not after menopause, it’s critical that you have your risk of heart disease assessed by a knowledgeable clinician.

HOW TO ASSESS RISK OF HEART DISEASE

Because we truly don’t know who is at risk for a heart attack based simply on family history, or blood pressure, or cholesterol levels, it’s critical that you understand how to be properly evaluated.  

To prove this point, a recent July 2024 article by Faridi et al, adults ages 40-65 without any traditional risk factors (hypertension, diabetes, medications for hypertension or diabetes, tobacco use) found that even in these low risk people, almost 40% had plaque in their arteries (atherosclerosis) present on coronary CT angiogram, and 25% had calcifications on a coronary artery calcium scan. Even in individuals with optimal risk factors, which is to say BP <120/<80, fasting blood glucose <100, A1c <5.7%, BMI<25, healthy HDL and triglycerides and no tobacco use, 21% of participants had coronary plaque detected.

Many clinicians determine your risk for heart disease by using a 10-year calculator that adds together all the above risk factors.  This is often how a decision is made about whether to start you on a statin (medication for lowering cholesterol).  However, I hope this paper has now convinced you (like it convinced me) that you need further risk assessment beyond vitals signs and basic blood markers for a complete picture.  This often includes imaging and more advanced lipid testing. 

THE BEST TESTS TO CHECK YOUR HEART HEALTH BEFORE OR DURING MENOPAUSE

At Blum we frequently use the following tests to really know the status of your coronary arteries and thus your risk for heart disease and heart attack:

  1. Imaging recommended after menopause (or sooner for high risk patients):  CT Calcium score as initial screening; followed by CT Angiogram with Cleerly if indicated
  2. Advance blood testing for lipids and oxidative stress.  
  3. Cutting edge genetic testing to help us personalize treatment, for example:
    • 16% of people carry polymorphisms (genetic variants) in the CDKN2A (9p21) gene which leads to increased calcification in the arteries
    • Polymorphisms in the IL1RL1 and IL33 genes can combine to lead to a 2 to 5-fold increased risk in coronary artery disease, in addition to increased risk for hypertension, due to the body’s decreased ability to stop inflammation and fibrosis. 

Knowing all of this, some people avoid doing the testing because they are worried about the side effects of taking a statin, which is the common treatment after discovering some of these high risk issues. To be clear, statins are highly effective in lowering LDL, reducing plaque and lowering one’s risk for atherosclerotic heart disease. However, in some people, they can also cause myalgias, raise glucose, and elevate liver enzymes, in some people. The fantastic thing about medicine today is that even if these side effects occur for you, and are intolerable or undesirable enough to prohibit statin use, multiple other oral and injectable therapies are available such as PCSK-9 inhibitors, ezetimibe, and bempedoic acid, not to mention the exercise and lifestyle patterns we can recommend.  I encourage you to get evaluated, and then we can figure out together where to go from there and which approach is best for you.

THE OZEMPIC REVOLUTION

One of the more interesting recent options we have for treating or preventing heart disease are GLP1 receptor agonists, or the Ozempic family of medications. We now have evidence that GLP1s like Ozempic lower the risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death in patients who are overweight or obese. We know that GLP1 receptors are located in multiple organs, including heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes).  We are learning all the ways that these medications can help reduce your risk of heart disease, outside of their glucose lowering and weight loss effects, all of which suggests we may start using this for primary prevention in the right cardiovascular patient someday.

Here are just some examples of what we are learning.  GLP1’s have been found to:

  • Have a direct effect on the cardiomyocytes, improving their ability to use glucose for energy, and inhibiting apoptosis (cell damage and death).   
  • Stimulate the lining of blood vessels to produce nitric oxide, thereby lowering blood pressure. 
  • Lower lipid levels 
  • Reduce blood clots by having anti-atherothrombotic properties
  • Reduce oxidative stress (the free radicals that run around your body causing damage to cells and blood vessels)

I hope this overall message feels optimistic, because coronary artery disease is preventable with the right therapies. At Blum Center for Health, the Proactive Heart Health Program is designed specifically for us to consider each person’s individual cardiac risk and come up with a plan to keep your heart healthy. We look forward to helping you choose the best approach to protect your health.

Dr. Jane Andrews is a Functional Medicine doctor with a background in internal medicine physician doing both inpatient and outpatient clinical medicine for 12 years prior to joining Blum Center. Dr. Andrews received her MD from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, her MPH at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health with a concentration in biostatistics and epidemiology, and is a graduate of the NIH-funded Predoctoral Clinical Research Training Program. She completed residency at Tulane University and was faculty at Tulane, followed by Yale School of Medicine, and finally at UT Health where she was an Associate Professor. 

Citations: 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10739421/ https://www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacadv.2024.101049 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39116093/

Xiang D, Liu Y, Zhou S, Zhou E, Wang Y. Protective Effects of Estrogen on Cardiovascular Disease Mediated by Oxidative Stress. Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2021;2021:5523516. Published 2021 Jun 28. doi:10.1155/2021/5523516

Rosano GM, Vitale C, Marazzi G, Volterrani M. Menopause and cardiovascular disease: the evidence. Climacteric. 2007 Feb;10 Suppl 1:19-24.

Menazza S, Murphy E. The Expanding Complexity of Estrogen Receptor Signaling in the Cardiovascular System. Circ Res. 2016;118(6):994‐1007. doi:10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.115.305376 

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Ready to Boost Mitochondria and Kick your Energy into High Gear?

You’ve likely heard about the perils of consuming processed foods – It can make you tired, promote muscle weakness, impair your vision and hearing, provoke digestive issues, migraines, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.  You might be wondering what all these things have in common?  Too much processed food can damage the functioning of your Mitochondrial! 

You might be wondering … how are processed foods connected to my mitochondria?

First, let’s define mitochondria. You might have recently read about these little powerhouses inside your cells. They take the fats, carbs and protein that you eat and combust them for cellular energy much like how the engine in your car burns gasoline. Mitochondria provide the energy to keep your body running, and are the prime driver of metabolism, which you need to maintain low levels of body fat and to keep a healthy weight.  

NUTRIENTS THE MITOCHONDRIA NEEDS

To be functioning at their best, your mitochondria need very specific nutrients.  They need B vitamins, antioxidants, and amino acids (the building blocks of protein).  Just like your car engine, the mitochondria throw off “sparks” as its combusting your food for energy, and it needs a constant supply of rainbow colored foods to provide the antioxidants needed to quench these sparks also called free radicals. If you aren’t eating enough antioxidants, the sparks become a flame and not only can you end up with inflammation, but your mitochondria stop working optimally.

In addition to antioxidants, B vitamins are critical.  When you eat lots of vegetables, and whole foods (the food looks like it did when it was grown, picked, slaughtered) you get a lot of B vitamins.  Remember, you are also eating what the animal ate, and so how you source your animal protein matters too for it’s nutrient density.

NUTRIENTS THE MITOCHONDRIA DON’T NEED

OK, now that you know what you should feed your mitochondria, what shouldn’t you feed it?  Processed foods!  Not only are these foods missing the nutrients you need, but they have “anti-nutrients” that are damaging to the body.   Sugar is clearly inflammatory and damaging, but these processed foods also have loads of added chemicals, bad fats, and toxins that are hitchhiking with the food when you eat it.  This is why it’s critical to read nutrition labels to discern whether your favorite crackers, breads, canned goods, and even products marketed as healthy, are really ok.  Remember, if your mitochondria are ok, your cells and then your body will also function at its best. 

Be a Nutrition Label Detective:

Examine the ingredient list: Would you find every ingredient in your grandmother’s kitchen? If not, step away. Is there any kind of sugar in the first three ingredients – anything from cane sugar to honey to date sugar – it’s a desert.

Take a look at the grams of added sugar: We recommend staying under 24g of added sugar daily. What does that mean? 4g of sugar equals 1 teaspoon. It adds up fast.

For grain and grain replacement products, such as breads, crackers and gluten-free products: How many grams of fiber does it have? There should be a minimum of 3 grams per serving.

What processed foods should you avoid unequivocally? Seed oils, such as canola (rapeseed), corn, cottonseed, peanut, grapeseed, rice bran, soybean, safflower and sunflower. Using extra virgin olive oil for cooking? Make sure you do not expose it to high heat – it converts to an “anti-nutrient” trans-fat! Our favorite high heat oil is avocado.

Foods to Eat for Healthy Mitochondrial Function:

Eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, you have heard this before –but it is critical. Be sure to include red, blue, purple, yellow and green fruits and vegetables, the deeper, darker colored food are the best. Gradually increase the number of servings that you have a day to reach 9 cups a day. Find your farmer’s market and get to work. You can do it! Be sure to add some seaweed into the mix for iodine.

Eat more omega-3 rich foods. We do not make omega-3 fatty acids in the body so they must come from the diet daily. Include wild fish, grass-fed meats and omega-3 rich eggs. Boost this brain food — the brain has lots of mitochondria — by adding one to two tablespoons of flax or hemp oil, or seeds, to your vegetables.

Build your meal from the foundation of vegetables up, then add your omega-3 rich protein, some legumes, like your favorite beans, for fiber, toss in some dulse or seaweed, sprinkle with nuts and seeds, douse with a healthy oil for dressing and you are good to go – literally go, because eating this way you will give you more energy to go!

Two Other Factors that Boost Mitochondrial Function:

Intermittent fasting and calorie restriction increase your ability to generate energy while increasing the number of mitochondria in the cells.  A simple way to practice intermittent fasting is to eat no food (you are allowed to have herbal tea or broth) for 12-14 hours overnight, from dinner to breakfast. Calorie restriction can be done by eating only vegetables for 600 – 800 Calories in one day, perhaps one day each week. 

Reduce your intake of carbohydrates. This shift causes your body to switch to using ketones (produced by burning fats) instead of glucose as its primary source of fuel. Ketones are efficiently used for the generation of energy in the mitochondria while increasing the number of new mitochondria.

But Food is Only One Aspect to Boost Mitochondria Function

Mitochondria are especially damaged from Covid or other viruses; Lyme or other tick or bacterial infections; and Environmental toxins, especially mold; as well as aging. Often, the chronic fatigue experienced by people trying to recover from a significant illness comes from damage to the mitochondria.  Because of this, we have created a Mito Recovery Program. 

Testing and Repairing Your Mitochondria Damage: 

Our Mito Recovery program is a comprehensive evaluation and treatment approach for  your mitochondria, to help them recover and to finally restore your health.  

The first step is to identify why and how your mitochondria got damaged, and then to help you eliminate these exposures if they are environmental or infectious.  Common culprits are infectious disease, mold, and environmental toxins. 

We will check the functioning of your mitochondria with MitoSwab testing. The test is done with a simple scrape from the inside of your cheek, and results show us your mitochondrial biogenesis (total numbers of mitochondria) and the functioning of Complexes 1, 2, 3 and 4.

We measure levels of oxidative stress and glutathione.

Treatment:  Based on these results we offer targeted treatments, which may include Infusions (NAD, glutathione, lipoic acid, CoQ10, carnitine, B vitamins and magnesium), supplements, and intermittent caloric restriction/fasting (great for mitochondria function!).   For example, low Complex 1 responds well to NAD.  Riboflavin is good for Complex 2, and CoQ10 for Complex 3.  And both Glutathione and lipoic acid are great for treating oxidative stress, which is an issue for all the 4 complexes if they are damaged.

Suspect your Mitochondria Need Help? Schedule an appointment with one of our Functional Medicine practitioners. Call 914-652-7800 to book your appointment. 

Meet Melissa: Melissa Rapoport is the Manager of Health Coaching and Lifestyle Programming at Blum Center for Health in Rye Brook, NY. She combines her graduate work in Developmental Psychology with her education in nutrition, health and coaching to create highly individualized programs that result in lifetime change. A contributing author to three international bestselling books, Melissa’s greatest joy is her relationship with her two daughters. To learn more about Melissa’s coaching practice at Blum Center for Health, click here.

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Emotional Wellness and the Stress Effect

In 1998, I attended my first training program with the Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM.org), and began a lifelong journey exploring and understanding how our emotions, thoughts, feelings, stress, and  trauma are dramatically linked to changes in our physical and mental health.  There is no separation.  Look below the surface of a physical illness and you will find stress, trauma, or emotional distress in varying degrees, sometimes going back many years.  

The same holds true for those with emotional or mental health issues.  There are almost always root causes to be found…sometimes physical (think nutritional for example), but often there is underlying stress or trauma to be unearthed and healed.   

Over the many years that I have worked with CMBM (I am still part of the Senior Teaching Faculty), I have traveled and worked in traumatized populations (Haiti after the earthquake, New Orleans after Katrina, Northern California after the Wildfires, Military/Vets, First responders after 9/11) and in stressed out populations of health professionals experiencing severe burnout and every day trauma in their own lives.  And because this understanding of the mind-body-stress-trauma connection is now woven into the fabric of who i am and the lens with which i see the world, over these past 20+ years, I have uncovered and witnessed how stress and trauma have caused physical and emotional illness in all the people I meet and treat in my medical practice.  

When I opened Blum Center for Health almost 15 years ago, my goal was always to bring Functional Medicine, Mind-Body Medicine and Nutritional Medicine all together under one roof.  And I have a deep sense of satisfaction, knowing that yes, these are the services you will find when you explore our website or walk in our door.  But more importantly, this is that attitude and approach you will find as you work with all our providers, because this has now become the fabric of who WE are.

SUPPORT FOR EMOTIONAL WELLNESS, STRESS AND TRAUMA

To support our community and to offer tools for our patients to explore their mind-body connection and resolve underlying stress and past trauma, we offer many services that we invite you to take advantage of.  

  • Weekly meditation classes
  • Mind-body groups led by facilitators trained by CMBM
  • Health coaching for exploring stress and sleep with Melissa Rapoport
  • Ketamine consult and then treatment with Dr Greenman
  • We also work with local integrative psychiatrists and therapists for a team approach for optimal treatment outcomes.
  • And of course, we also use functional medicine to look for underlying causes of imbalances that affect your mood and emotional health, including optimizing gut microbiome, hormones, nutrient deficiencies, and more. 

We’re here to help. If you are unsure of where to start, feel free to contact us at info@blumcenterforhealth.com and we’d be happy to guide in the direction that fits your desired outcome.

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Nutrient Packed Smoothie Guide

Functional Medicine Smoothie Recommendations

Smoothies can be a quick, simple and refreshing complement to your nutrition program, helping to make food as medicine delicious and healing.  However, many typical smoothie recipes are heavy on fruits, limited in protein and miss the boat on opportunities to add fantastic antioxidant and antiinflammatory options. 

Use this template to take your smoothies to a new level! 

Use 4-6 oz. for your base liquid for your smoothie. Place it in a blender.

o Green tea – let it brew for 10-15 minutes

o Good, clean, filtered water

o Almond milk or another nut milk ( use one without added gums or sweeteners) 

Add 2 oz. of organic, unsweetened liquid:

o Pomegranate juice

o Tart cherry juice

o Acai juice

o “Morning blend” or any Knudsen Organic “just” juice

Add ½ cup of frozen wild blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries (preferably organic).

Add 1 cup of spinach, kale, romaine or any green leafy vegetable

And/or a carrot, ½ beet or ⅓ cup cauliflower 

Add a protein

o ½ cup coconut yogurt

o ⅓ cup white beans or chickpeas 

o 2Tbs nut or seed butter

o 1 scoop of protein powder 

Add additional nutrients:

o Add 1-2t of freshly ground flax seeds. Store extra ground flax seed in fridge. It will keep for 3-4 weeks.

o 1 scoop of Fiber

o 1 teaspoon of fish oil 

You may want to use the herbs below: 

1T of fresh rosemary chipped 

1t of fresh ground turmeric or ginger

½t of fresh ground cinnamon, clove or nutmeg 

Add ¼ cup of crushed ice if you like your smoothie cold 

Blend as desired and enjoy!

Download the guide as an image and save it for future use:

Vicki Kobliner is a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist with over 20 years of expertise applying a Functional Nutrition approach to the care of children and adults. She utilized her wealth of experience with both traditional and integrative modalities, incorporating the power of food, herbs and targeted nutrition support for both prevention of and healing from both acute and chronic illnesses.    Vicki sees pediatric patients and their families, and has extensive experience in addressing a wide variety of childhood illnesses.

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Sesame Kelp Gomasio

Sesame seeds are excellent for healing the thyroid. To boost its potency, we’ve added the sea vegetable kelp to our gomasio recipe for added minerals and thyroid support!  Try this salty condiment on your raw cruciferous vegetables, or as a garnish on salads, soups, noodles, and other vegetables.

Serves 12 Tablespoons

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup, sesame seeds – toasted
  • 1/4 cup, kelp – toasted
  • 1/2 tsp, sea salt with iodine

Directions

  • In a mortar, grind the sesame seeds, kelp, and salt together until well combined, but not into a paste. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle you can blend this in a coffee grinder in two batches.
  • Store in an airtight container.
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Detoxing Deliciously: Shrimp Masala

For your weekly fish dish, we love this low-mercury, flavorful recipe rich in nutrients that will help your body clear out toxins.

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp, coconut oil
  • 2 tsp, cumin seeds
  • 2, red chili peppers – dried
  • 11/2 cups , onion – diced
  • 1 1/2 tbsp, fresh ginger – minced peeled
  • 2 tsp, garlic – minced
  • 2 tsp, coriander – ground
  • 11/2 tsp, cumin – ground
  • 1/2 tsp, turmeric – ground
  • 1/2 tsp, cayenne pepper
  • Pinch, Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 14-ounce can , tomatoes – diced
  • 1 lb, medium shrimp – peeled and deveined
  • 1 cup , coconut milk
  • 1/4 cup, cilantro – chopped

Directions

  • Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cumin seeds and red chilies and cook, stirring, until the fragrant, about 30 seconds.
  • Add the onion and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Then add the ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until dark and fragrant, about 3 minutes more.
  • Add the tomatoes and cook until somewhat soft, about 3 minutes. You can make the sauce up to this point a day ahead.
  • When ready to serve, heat the sauce over high heat. As soon as it starts to bubble on the edges, add the shrimp and cook, stirring, until the shrimp turns opaque. Lower the heat, gradually stir in the coconut milk, and gently heat it through – do not allow to boil.
  • Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving platter, garnish with cilantro and serve over rice or quinoa.
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The Secret To Happiness

By Elizabeth Greig, FNP

Heavy metals, and toxins in general, can be a trigger for brain fog and mental dullness.  If this is something you are experiencing, there are different ways to detoxify your mind. One of the most effective tools is to be mindful about the information you take into your mind: bad news, fear-inducing news, gossip, and useless information can all clutter your mind.

So what can you do? Be proactive and turn off the radio or television when you listen to things that make you feel anxious, angry, or bored.   Ask your friends and family to stop telling you the juicy, but destructive, gossip and tell them that you are being kind to your mind by making a choice about what’s really important for it to hear.

I recently heard about a study that showed that the people who are the happiest are those whose thoughts are about what or who are right in front of them–meaning present time.  So keep your mind centered on what you are doing right now in the present, and don’t let it wander off looking for worries or troubles.  The secret to happiness is a happy mind that is enjoying the moment!

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3 Simple Steps To Great Gut Health

Nutrition is vital in Functional MedicineNutrition is vital in Functional Medicine

By Susan Blum, MD

If you have gas or bloating after you eat, or if you experience constipation and/or loose stools, or any type of intestinal discomfort, you have a problem with how your gut is functioning. While this is commonly labeled irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, the diagnosis doesn’t tell you why you’re having this problem.

Usually, the issue is something called dysbiosis, which means your gut flora isn’t healthy. You might have an overgrowth of harmful bacteria, yeast or parasites, or you might not have enough of the good stuff: those probiotics you find in yogurt and cultured foods.

But who cares about a little gas or bloating?

Your gut flora needs to be fixed, because the symptoms you’re having could just be the tip of the iceberg. A whopping 70% of your immune system is located in your gut and if the flora are out of balance, you have an increased risk of something called Leaky Gut Syndrome, and this can lead to autoimmune disease.

Here are my tips to heal your gut, which will treat your symptoms and keep your immune system happy, too.

  1. For your digestive symptoms, find out whether or not you’ve got food sensitivities, which could be causing the problem. Check yourself for gluten and dairy by removing them both from your diet at the same time for three weeks, and then reintroduce each one at a time, four days apart.
  2. For your flora, eat cultured food every day, like coconut or almond milk yogurt and kefir, sauerkraut or kimchee, and consider taking a probiotic supplement.
  3. If the above doesn’t do the trick, consider a gut-cleansing program using herbs like berberine or oregano to remove the harmful microbes. Check out our HealMyGut program!
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A Day In The Life….Of Your Toxic Exposures

By Darcy McConnell, MD

We come into contact with thousands of chemicals each day.  Luckily, we are equipped to handle toxic exposure – our liver metabolizes and removes these harmful substances the best that it can and we go about our business. Unfortunately, sometimes the burden of toxicity becomes overwhelming to the body, and causes us to suffer a multitude of ailments from fatigue and brain fog to autoimmune disease and cancer.

Though it is impossible to avoid exposure altogether, it is not difficult to reduce our body’s burden of toxins with some simple steps.  Let’s take a look at where these toxic exposures are hiding in our everyday life so we can address them and make some simple changes.

A day in the life … of your toxic exposure.  Where you might be accumulating toxins without even being aware of it:

You wake up after sleeping for hours on a mattress that may be exposing you to hundreds of harmful chemicals, and walk across a carpet that has flame retardants and VOCs seeping from it.  The cleaning products used in your home are full of toxins that remain in the air you breathe and on surfaces you touch.

  • You start your day brushing your teeth and showering with water that may be contaminated with chlorine, heavy metals, and other toxic compounds. 
  • You use personal care products that contain endocrine disruptors, harmful chemicals that alter hormones, and other dangerous substances like aluminum, phthalates, propylene glycol, and all kinds of colorings and fragrances.   
  • Into the kitchen for breakfast, and you prepare and eat food that is tainted with chemicals and additives.  Pesticides, antibiotics and hormone residues lurk in conventional produce, meats, and dairy; heavy metals and PCBs contaminate our fish supply.  BPA and phthalates leach from plastics in food packaging and bottles.
  • You get dressed, and the clothing you wear may have toxins from dry cleaning chemicals, flame retardants and synthetic plastics that are breathed in and absorbed through the skin.

It’s scary, you haven’t even left the house yet and you’ve been exposed to so many disruptive chemicals!

But we should not despair, though the research and evidence of harm is damning.  We have a choice to make the less toxic purchase every time we buy food, cleaning products, cosmetics, clothing, or furniture.

Come learn how to detoxify your environment and find guidance on how to make clean, healthy choices for decreasing your everyday toxic exposure.  Join me for my free talk on Monday April 18th at 6pm! 

Photo Credit: Household Chemical Cleaners 

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What Role Do Genetics Play In Your Health?

by Elizabeth Greig, FNP

Several times a week, I see someone at Blum Center who has multiple autoimmune conditions or cancer or both and has had a moderate to high level of toxicant (toxin) exposures.  For example, they may have lived on or near a farm with an apple orchard and drank well water growing up in the 60s, they spray their apartment weekly or monthly with roach-killer, they play golf regularly, or they’ve taken many prescription drugs over many years.  All of these toxicants can be removed by the detoxification pathways in the body, particularly those found in the liver.  The efficiency of this process is determined in part by your genes.

How much effect – or risk – a particular gene, or group of genes, has on your health or illness is determined in part by your environment, such as food, chemicals, stress, and infections, as well as by interaction with other genes.  The part that environment plays is the part you have some control over.

For example, if you have a genetic tendency to diabetes, you can control your intake of sugar, sweets and starchy vegetables and be sure to exercise and thus reduce the likelihood that you will become diabetic.  This effect that lifestyle has on your genes to turn them on or off or modulate their expression is called “epigenetics.”  So, rather than:

Genes = Destiny

The answer is determined by epigenetics:

Genes + Lifestyle + Environment = Destiny

Some people have a collection of genetic mutations in their detoxification pathways that decreases their ability to rid the body of these toxicants and can increase the risk that those toxicants will cause problems.  The toxicants stay in circulation longer because they aren’t being removed efficiently. Then they can have a prolonged suppressing or damaging effect on the immune system and other systems that maintain the body’s health.  With genetic testing, we can identify some of these mutations and then make recommendations about foods, supplements and lifestyle changes that can help you decrease those toxic effects, helping you to heal and stay healthy.

Come find out more about some simple genetic testing you can do, learn about epigenetics, and discuss lifestyle, nutrition and supplement changes you can make to help you express your best destiny!