“You are what you eat” is not just a motivational poster in your health class. It is chemistry. Every Red Bull, Twinkie, and pizza roll you eat literally becomes your blood, your brain tissue, your skin. Live on soda and Doritos and you are basically a vending machine with legs. When people say “balanced diet,”...

The Second Brain You’ve Been Ignoring Let’s have a heart-to-gut talk about the forty trillion tiny squatters who live inside you. They are not just along for the ride. They help digest your breakfast burrito, train your immune system, produce vitamins, and send chemical messages that can literally change your mood. They have been here...

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (aka Chief Potato) decided it’d be a great idea to save America by banning all those fun, colorful food dyes—you know, the ones that make your candy neon and your sports drinks look radioactive[1]. He calls it “Make America Healthy Again” or MAHA, because apparently acronyms make everything sound official. But...

The gut biome is made up of trillions of bacteria, fungi, and other tiny organisms that live in the digestive system, mainly in the large intestine. These microbes help the body digest food, absorb nutrients, and support the immune system1. They also produce chemicals like serotonin and short-chain fatty acids, which affect mood, energy levels,...

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “You are what you eat.” But what does it actually mean? In my last blog, I talked about how people in the United States have grown heavier over time and how processed and ultra-processed foods have become more common. I didn’t take sides but shared research about obesity and food....

When I was in medical school, I remember learning about how some people who lived in the South of the United States were considered by the medical establishment as both morbidly obese and malnourished[^1]. This seemed paradoxical, and I stored it into my brain along with a whole lot of other facts about being alive...

Generally, most people who go on any kind of diet are doing this to lose weight.  One of the more famous diets is the Keto Diet, where a close to complete removal of carbohydrates from daily meals will bring the dieting person into what is called Ketosis.  This is when the body switches from burning...

Sweet things are good, no?  Of course sweet things are good.  What about the newer semaglutides (such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus)?  First, let’s take a look at some basic facts about sugar and carbohydrates generally.  Sugar and carbohydrates are related, but they aren’t the same.  Carbohydrates are a macronutrient found in many foods and...